Deborah,   we tested several brown stains on a Lakota hide dress from the
late 19th century and ran a positve with fresh blood from a finger prick.
We were able to designate which stains on the dress were from blood and
which ones weren't using the benzidine test described in Nancy and Scott's
book.     Susan

Susan Heald
Senior Textile Conservator
National Museum of the American Indian
Cultural Resources Center
4220 Silver Hill Road
Suitland, MD 20746
(301)238-1419
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>>> [log in to unmask] 01/24 8:35 AM >>>
Hi everyone:

I have a client with a cotton Confederate (1860's) flag with stains that
have historically been considered to be blood.  My client is interested in
having the stains analyzed to confirm or disprove this.  I'm aware of
fairly
simple spot tests such as the one in Nancy Odegaard's book, but I wonder
how
accurate that would be on an aged stain on materials this old.  Plus the
fabric is intact in most of the stained areas and sample collection would
be
challenging.  Does anyone have experience working with an analytical lab
or
a forensic scientist (or other?) to identify aged stains as human blood?

Thanks,

Deborah Bede
Stillwater Textile Conservation Studio, LLC
Bradford, NH 03221
(603) 938-2310
(603) 938-2455 fax
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www.stillwaterstudio.org