Archaeological Leather Research Articles

Evaluation of the Amino Acid Composition, Structure and Properties of Archaeological Leather

Specimens of new and archaeological leather before and after restoration were investigated. It was determined that both the ageing of leather and its further restoration affect the amount of polar amino acids in the leather. TG, DTG and DTA studies of the new and archeological leather before and after restoration allowed a conclusion to be drawn that the prevailing process in the thermal destruction of the new leather is the breakage of cross-linking formed in tanning. In its turn, the prevailing process in the thermal destruction of the restored leather is oxidation of the products of reaction between collagen and organic substances introduced during the restoration.

The Footwear of Klaipėda Dwellers in the 16th and 17th Centuries

This report reviews leather footwear discovered during the latest archaeological research in Klaipėda, in investigations carried out at 3 Kurpių St in 2007 and 2008, and at 10 Žvejų St in 2006 (headed by R. Braciulienė). Another aim is to present examples of the footwear of Klaipėda dwellers in the 16th and 17th centuries which are of interest in terms of their shape and style, and which are typical of the shoes of the West European Renaissance and of the townsfolk of the Early Modern Period. The following types of footwear are presented: primitive shoes, low-cut shoes, mules and children’s shoes. The report describes the parts of the footwear, joining methods, seams and decorative components. It discusses differences between the footwear of the 16th and the 17th centuries, and refers to morphological studies and microchemical analyses of archaeological leather and thread fibre conducted by other experts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ab.v16i0.42 Key words: archaeology, footwear, shoes, primitive shoe, low-cut shoe.

Microstructural, chemical and isotopic evidence for the origin of late neolithic leather recovered from an ice field in the Swiss Alps

Archaeological leather samples recovered from the ice field at the Schnidejoch Pass (altitude 2756 m amsl) in the western Swiss Alps were studied using optical, chemical molecular and isotopic (δ 13C and δ 15N of the bulk leather, and compound-specific δ 13C analyses of the organic-solvent extracted fatty acids) methods to obtain insight into the origin of the leather and ancient tanning procedures. For comparison, leathers from modern native animals in alpine environment (red deer, goat, sheep, chamois, and calf/cow) were analyzed using the same approach. Optical and electron microscopically comparisons of Schnidejoch and modern leathers showed that the gross structure (pattern of collagen fibrils and intra-fibrils material) of archaeological leather had survived essentially intact for five millennia. The SEM studies of the hairs from the most important archaeological find, a Neolithic leather legging, show a wave structure of the hair cuticle, which is a diagnostic feature for goatskins. The variations of the bulk δ 13C and δ 15N values, and δ 13C values of the main fatty acids are within the range expected for pre-industrial temperate C 3 environment. The archaeological leather samples contain a mixture of indigenous (from the animal) and exogenous plant/animal lipids. An important amount of waxy n-alkanes, n-alkan-1-ols and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, sitostanol) in all samples, and abundant biomarker of conifers (nonacosan-10-ol) in the legging leathers clearly indicate that the Neolithic people were active in a subalpine coniferous forest, and that they used an aqueous extract of diverse plant material for tanning leather.

Leather Wet and Dry: Current Treatments in the Conservation of Waterlogged and Desiccated Archaeological Leather

Leather Wet and Dry: Current Treatments in the Conservation of Waterlogged and Desiccated Archaeological Leather

Some remarks on the conservation of wet archaeological leather

Archaeological leather, both complete items and scraps, presents by means of stitch holes much information about construction and function. This paper surveys cleaning and conservation methods for preserving this information. The pH and the moisture and fat content of the leather are of importance during and after conservation. Values for these properties were obtained for wet archaeological leather, and comparisons were made with dry historical leather.

Some Remarks on the Conservation of Wet Archaeological Leather

Some Remarks on the Conservation of Wet Archaeological Leather

Conservation of Leather and Textiles from the Defence

The article provides case studies for the conservation of water-logged archaeological leather and textiles. The materials described had been recovered from the underwater archaeological site of the DEFENCE (an American privateer sunk in 1779). Modifications of existing conservation treatments for these materials are described, including the use of oxalic acid to reduce metallic encrustations, the support of leather disruptions, and the use of freeze-drying in the conservation of particularly fragile textiles.