Reconstructing textile biographies

We are circling back to textiles, which have been meticulously studied by our specialist, Magda Woźniak. Armed with an eye for detail and incredible perseverance, Magda has been able to piece together fragments of textiles recovered from Old Kingdom inhumations to identify individual linen dresses. These can be counted among a small group of such artefacts dated to the Old Kingdom period or earlier, including the best known examples from Tarkhan and Deshasha. For example, a burial of an older female (Burial 511) revealed fragments of a total of four dresses that were found in the reed coffin with the remains of the deceased. Detailed study of these fragments has revealed some intricate elements of craftsmanship otherwise unknown in having been applied in ancient Egyptian dress making.

We have always wondered whether the dresses found in such burial contexts actually belonged to the person they were buried with. Most of the time, the fragmentary preservation of such items would prevent their reconstruction. This time, however, we were very lucky to have found one of the dresses sufficiently complete (after piecing its fragments together) to follow that line of enquiry.

Here comes experimental archaeology! We have collaborated with Dorota Bąkowska, a master tailor from the School of Form, SWPS University in Warsaw to make a replica of the dress using its original measurements. By doing so, we wanted to find out if the dress could, indeed, have been worn by the deceased it was found with. In order to do that, Iwona contributed some bioarchaeological data collected through the study of skeletal remains, which allowed us to estimate the deceased living stature. The final step was to put everything together and try the newly-made replica dress on a person of similar height. The outcome? It was a good fit and comfortable to wear without restricting movement!

With this exercise, we come a step closer to understanding the use of textiles in funerary practices of the period, and their life cycle from production through to daily life uses and finally burial deposition.

One very intriguing observation we have made is that we seem to lack any pictorial or statuary evidence of women dressed in sleeved dresses, which can be found in burial contexts. In other words, the physical evidence does not correspond to the visual representations of customary female garments worn by all social classes. Perhaps one day, with more textile artefacts being studied, the answer will be found.

 

This collaborative research was presented at the 9th Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology conference held at Yale University and the annual conference meeting at the University of Warsaw.