Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
Textile Structures and Techniques Identified in Neolithic and Copper Age Sites from Romania 29 They are often hard to differentiate from textile fabrics created using advanced techniques, like the use of warp and so on. In these cases we have a series of methods that are to be placed between primary and advanced techniques. Weaving is considered to be the most advanced textile technique (Seiler-Baldinger 1991; 1994). Prehistoric textiles reveal a wide range of structures, created using both primary and advanced techniques. Within the territory of Romania eight types of textile structures were identified to this day, classified in four major technical groups: needle looped, interlinked, twined and woven textiles. All were identified based on several imprints on pottery and a pseudomorph found in 21 Neolithic and Copper Age settlements in Transylvania and Moldova, dated between 5500-3500 BC (Fig. 10). Unfortunately, for Southern Romania there are no other published proofs of textiles besides the charred bedspread remains found at Sucidava-Celei. 1. Needle looped textiles According to A. Seiler-Baldinger (1994, 7) looped fabrics belong to the primary textiles category - next to those produced by linking and knotting - as mesh fabrics that are produced with a single continuous element. There are many ways in which to obtain such textile structures (Seiler-Baldinger 1991,11-18, fig. 9-23). Some of them are often found under the term nälebinding of Scandinavian origin (Bender Jorgensen 1992,14; Böttcher 2004); it entails also the terms ‘looped-needle netting’ and ‘knotless netting’ (Bender Jorgensen, 1992, 12; Hald 1950, 458; Hald 1980, 285-310; Hardy 2008, 273; Wild-Walton-Rogers 2003, 22-23). More precisely, in E. Hansen’s opinion the term nälebinding defines those techniques “where the material is produced in a darning technique, with a needle, and where the thread of the new stitch is passed arbitrarily through at least two unfinished thread-loops of arbitrary size” (Hansen 1990, 21-27). Fig. 1. Simple needle looped structures. a. Thread configuration of a mesh in simple looping (after Seiler-Baldinger 1991); b. Drawing of a simple needle looped textile imprint found at Bodesti-Frumusica, Cucuteni A (after Marian 2009). There are numerous archaeological finds and ethnographical proofs that needle looping was used for producing various pieces of garments as caps, stockings, mittens, shoes (Hald 1980, 302-310). For prehistory it seems that the more common usage was that of creating fishing nets, as proven by the discoveries from Mesolithic sites of Friesack, Germany, 8th millennium BC (Hardy 2008, 273), Tybrind Vig, Denmark, Ertebole culture, ca. 4200 BC (Bender Jorgensen 1992, 115,159, fig. 136; Bender Jorgensen 2003, 54) and the Neolithic sites of Bolkilde, Denmark, Funnel Beaker culture, ca. 4000-3400 BC (Bender Jorgensen 1992, 159; Bender Jorgensen 2003, 54; Hardy 2007, 12), Feldmeilen-Vordelfeld (Switzerland), Horgen layer, ca. 3239-3023 BC (Bazzanella Et Al. 2003, 222).
