Electron Microscopy and Mineralogy of Mayan Fabrics
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Keywords: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), pigment, mineralogy, cinnabar
Fabrics don't receive much attention from ancient materials researchers simply because their preservation is so poor compared to stone, metals, ceramics, glass, and other artifacts. These articles discuss a rare find of intact Maya fabrics from a tomb at Copán in Honduras. The textiles had a surprisingly high thread count -- higher than most pairs of jeans. The researchers used stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy to examine the fibers and identify the plants from which the Maya were made fabric. They've recognized a wide variety of plant materials, including cotton, grasses, leaves, and bark. The researchers are also working to identify the minerals used as fabric pigments: the red is cinnabar, and the black is probably an iron oxide.
Above: SEM image of a modern cotton thread. Credit: The University of Wales Bioimaging Laboratory.
Excerpts from Science Daily:
Rare Textiles From Honduras Ruins Suggests Mayans Produced Fine Fabrics
Very few textiles from the Mayan culture have survived, so the treasure trove of fabrics excavated from a tomb at the Copán ruins in Honduras since the 1990s has generated considerable excitement.
Textiles conservator Margaret Ordoñez, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, spent a month at the site in 2004 examining 100 textile samples found in a tomb, and since then she has been analyzing tiny fragments of 49 samples she brought back to her lab to see what she could learn from them.
The tomb, one of three excavated by archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, was of a woman of high status who was buried during the 5th century.
“What was most amazing was that there were as many as 25 layers of fabrics on an offertory platform and covering pottery in the tomb, and they all had a different fabric structure, color, and yarn size, so it’s likely that the tomb was reopened – perhaps several times -- and additional layers of textiles were laid there years after her death,” said Ordoñez. . .
Handling each piece very carefully so it doesn’t crumble, Ordoñez uses a stereomicroscope to examine the yarn structure, the fabric structure, and the finish on each sample. She then brings the sample to the URI Sensors and Surface Technology Laboratory to use a scanning electron microscope to look in more fine detail at the plant material from which each piece of yarn was made.
“I can look at the cell structure of the yarn and compare it to reference materials to identify the kind of plant each thread is made from,” explained Ordoñez, who may spend as many as three days examining each fragment. “We’ve found threads made from cotton, sedge grasses, and all kinds of other plant fibers.”
After completing the analysis of the textile samples in her lab this summer, the URI professor plans to return to the Copán ruins in 2009 to examine more fragments from the woman’s tomb and other sites. . .
To read the rest of the article, visit the Science Daily or NewsWise websites:
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Excerpts from National Geographic News:
Ancient Maya Tomb Yields "Amazing" Fabrics
By Ker Than
Mabric fragments excavated from the tomb of an ancient Maya queen rival modern textiles in their complexity and quality, scientists say. . .
Some of the fabrics found within her tomb have thread counts of over 80 weft yarns per inch, said Margaret Ordonez, a textile expert at the University of Rhode Island who studied the cloth.
"This is in the range of the clothing that we wear," she said. "This is a higher thread count than your jeans."
Some of the fragments contained as many as 25 layers of fabric, stacked atop one another and fused together over time. . .
The fabrics were made of various plant materials, including cotton, grasses, leaves, and tree bark.
Some of the fragments retained hints of glorious hues, including a bright red made from cinnabar and a deep black, possibly created using iron. . .
To read the rest of the article, please visit the National Geographic website:
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