The Must Farm Bronze Age pile dwelling volumes are out now in Open Access.

The chapter 'Fibres and Fabrics' by Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow) and Margarita Gleba, (University of Padova), is in Volume 2. It is free to download online with pictures and dataset.

'Fibres and Fabrics' explores the plant fibre textiles and twined fabrics found in the damp, deep fenland deposits of Must Farm settlement that was built around 850 BCE. 

The settlement with its round timber huts is exceptional for revealing how and where people made and stored plant fibres and fabrics. We present evidence for collecting and processing fibres of flax, lime tree bast and rush, making yarn by splicing and plying, weaving hut with a warp weighted loom, knotting net and twining. 

The textiles compare to the highest quality across Europe. The twined fabrics with pile open up a whole new understanding of tufted fabrics in Late Bronze Age Britain. 

Find out more about this amazing find in the Must Farm pile-dwelling settlement: Volume 1. Landscape, architecture and occupation available to read for free here: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.106697

Must Farm Pot 44


First published: 21 March 2024