EMAP_2012_Report_6_1.pdf (7.3 MB) - The Heritage Council

FitzGerald also suggested that small iron spikes found on a number of sites might be teeth
from wool combs or heckles, i.e. the surviving parts of tools used in the initial processing of
wool or flax (the wooden handles or boards on which the spikes were mounted not having
survived) (FitzGerald 2000, i, 53). Again, this potentially increases the material evidence for
craft-working on early medieval sites, causing us to reconsider our initial assumptions. In this
re-interpretation of evidence, for example, the site of Cahercommaun offers not just a large
quantity of spindle whorls, but also potentially the tools of flax heckling, wool combing,
sewing and weaving, all of which may have been carried out on the site. There may be
considerably more evidence existing for such crafts than previously recognised, and further
specialised work is required to re-assess the situation.
As Map 8.1 shows, the distribution of this proxy evidence for textile working is considerable.
It is relatively rare to find a site containing evidence for all stages of the process; however,
material preservation plays a role in this regard. While stone and metal artefacts, and to a
lesser extent bone, are reasonably well preserved in most conditions, wooden items are
usually only preserved in waterlogged conditions; this limits our appreciation of the use of
this material in the artefacts of cloth and clothing manufacture, and may skew our picture of
the location and distribution of this work. Nevertheless, 120 sites in the gazetteer provide
evidence for textile working.
The evidence does not necessarily imply that all stages of textile manufacture were carried
out on all of these sites; different stages, from processing of raw materials to spinning to
weaving, may have been separated and carried out at different site-types or by different
groups of people. Of the 120 sites, three sites had dye evidence only (Boho, Doonlaughan
and Rathgurreen), with no other evidence for textile working. Seventeen sites have evidence
for preparation (mainly fibres/sources and processing); 84 have spinning evidence (primarily
whorls); 58 have weaving evidence; 52 have sewing evidence (needles and shears) (see Fig.
8.1). There are 197 sites with no evidence of textile working – not even a single tool – and it
is unknown whether this is related to issues of survival/extent of excavation, or to a genuine
absence of this craft on those sites.
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
preparation
spinning
weaving
sewing
Fig. 8.1. The four textile-working processes by site type
Some interesting points arise from looking at the site types involved in each stage of textile
working. In general, most site types have evidence for all four stages, with the exception of
souterrain sites, where evidence for both preparation and weaving are absent. Those
souterrain sites which have spinning and sewing tools may reflect the portability, or perhaps
storage, of these tools rather than these processes being carried out there. No evidence for
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