HNAM inv. no Π 9651_b

The study indicates that this is a, most probably, wool fabric (today very much degraded), dyed in a bright purple colour (at least near the decoration) and decorated with tapestry patterns made using a supplemental, thicker linen thread in the natural shade of flax. While the linen, decorative thread has survived in different degrees of mineralisation, sometimes in a very good condition, others very degraded, the wool, background fabric has almost vanished, surviving only in blackish traces scattered among the tapestry designs. 

This tapestry joins the tradition where the background fabric is dark and illuminated by the bright, decorative weft forming the pattern (e.g. Lefkandi, Thessaloniki), as opposed to the subsequent tradition, famously depicted in the Coptic tapestries, where the dark, coloured decorative weft weaves the patterns on the light background (Vergina, Coptic tapestries).

 

Many tapestry fragments have been spotted during the study and the final impression is that they all belong to the same fabric, although they have been preserved differently depending on their placement and contact to other objects. Specifically, the tapestry has been found on the surface of the larger tabby HNAM inv. no Π 9651_a, in freestanding fragments HNAM inv. no Π 9651_b, in relation with the silver vase HNAM inv. no Π 9588 and in contact with the bronze vase HNAM inv. no Π 9566. 

Grave Circle : 
B
Tomb: 
N
Textile ID: 
HNAM inv. no Π 9651_b
Relation to other textiles : 
silver vase inv. no 9588, bronze vase inv. no 9566k
Group : 
ΗΝΑΜ inv. no Π 9566_c
Funerary context: 
Inhumation
Date: 
17th-16th c. BCE
Date of Discovery: 
1953
Museum: 
Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
Excavator: 
Ioannis Papadimitriou
State of conservation: 
Mineralised
Weave: 
Weft-faced tabby with tapestry decoration
Threads Structure System I: 
S2z
Threads Structure System II: 
S2*z
Threads diameter System I: 
0.33 depending on the area measured
Threads diameter System II: 
0.24-0.75 depending on the area measured
Thread count System I: 
8-12 depending on the area measured
Thread count System II: 
16-50 depending on the area measured
Material System I: 
Wool?
Material System II: 
Flax
Decorative elements: 
Tapestry patterns (slit tapestry) are conserved both on the surface of the balanced tabby and in freestanding fragments. The decorative weft forming the design is well conserved, while the warp threads and the rest of the background fabric are very degraded. This is the earliest instance of tapestry in Greece and Europe. The next find of tapestry in Greece derives from Lefkandi, Euboea, and is dated at least 300 years later than this fabric from the Tomb N. Five, still connected, tapestry patterns on the balanced tabby are created with a natural-coloured thread, while much finer, black warps are sticking out of the weft threads (corresponding to the warps of the background fabric). We are looking at the front side of the tapestry, because the thread connecting the patterns lays underneath the conserved tapestry patterns.
Analyses: 
Macroscopic examination, optical microscope, SEM-EDS, Hyperspectral analysis, HPLC
Picture: