>From: Marei Hacke <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: 07-Jun-2007 17:50
>Subject: "original" or "modern" stitches
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Hello,
>
>I have been asked to look at a medieval leather armour with a tear which
>has been crudely stitched and may be an "original repair". Does anone
>know a way of telling the approximate age of such a repair (other than
>dating analysis), i.e. is it possible to differentiate between machine
>spun and hand spun thread? Assuming, of course, that the fibres or dyes
>do not turn out to be synthetic which would give the easiest answer.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Marei
>
>Marei Hacke
>Scientist, The British Museum
>Great Russell Street
>London, WC1B 3DG


What is the material of the stitching? And the date of the armour?

If the stitches are cotton, they are probably post 13th century when cotton
became widely available in Europe (except earlier in Spain).

Are the fibers bleached, or dyed? If bleached, you might be able to date it
before or after 1300, based on the mild bleaching technique supposedly
replaced after the last crusade in AD 1291 with a more effective one. Ref:
*Handspinner's Handbook*, K. Edgerton, L. Knott, Eds. (Windham Center, CT,
1980)

If dyed, the type of dye can possibly be dated. Can you take a microsample?

Also note that Carbon-14 dating can be done on an extremely small sample now,
ca 80 micrograms of flax or cotton.

=====================================================================
William Meacham
Honorary Research Fellow
Centre of Asian Studies
University of Hong Kong