Period: Neolithic (c. 3900-2800 BC)

Project title: Undersøgelse af snoreaftryk på neolitiske lerkar

Researcher: Leonora Thofte, Københavns Universitet, Danmark

E-mail: leo(at)sagnlandet.dk

Year: 2003

Abstract:

Earthenware vessels from the Neolithic are often beautifully decorated with imprints of, among other things, string. The imprints of string have often been interpreted as imprints from woolen strings and seen as a sign that woolen clothing was used in the Neolithic. However the imprints have never been investigated.

Sheep were used as domestic animals in the Neolithic, but the remains of the bones suggest that the sheep were butchered at a young age - i.e. before their wool would have been usable for the production of string. Not until the archaeological findings from the Bronze age - 1500 years later - do we find signs of the use of woolen clothing. Instead the strings may have been made of other spinnable materials.

In the experiment imprints of strings of different materials were made in clay: Wool from different breeds of sheep and of different qualities, cow's tail hair, dog hair, flax, nettle and bast. The different imprints were examined and compared with original imprints. The comparison showed that the imprints of string were most probably not made with woolen string, but are more likely stemming from strings of bast. The sheep may have been used for other purposes than the production of wool.

Reference number: HAF 03/03