• Wool – raw material for clothing
• A closer look – weaving techniques
• Spindle whorl and loom
• The restoration of textile remnants
• Prehistoric clothing
   

Wool – raw material for clothing

During the European Iron Age domestic sheep were raised to provide wool. After shearing, the wool had to be washed, dried, sorted, and carded. Then the work of spinning yarn with a hand spindle began. Plant dyes were used to dye the yarn: woad for blue and weld (Reseda luteola) for yellow. Minerals and animal pigments such as scarlet grain, a small insect, were used for red. Final production of textile with interwoven warp and weft threads was done on an upright loom. 
  

A closer ook – weaving techniques

The Ice Age leg coverings and inner shoes from the Rieserferner Glacier on the Main Alpine Ridge were produced using various weaving techniques. The pair of leggings were made from a cloth in plain weave. In this weave the warp and weft threads are aligned so that they form a simple criss-cross pattern. The fabric ends on the outside of the leg were cleverly fitted with a woven insert that made the leggings elastic. The leggings were probably worn like stockings directly on the skin.
The second pair of leg coverings served as hose and were made of a thicker fabric in twill weave. Twill is distinguished by its diagnonal pattern. In the case of the Rieserferner leg coverings twill was used to produce a herringbone pattern.
The inner shoes, which were also woven, are made up of several strips stitched together with reinforcements  at the heel and toe. The reinforcing material was sewn on using blue-dyed thread, some of which can still be seen on the sole of the left shoe. Numerous patches show that the leg coverings and inner shoes from the Rieserferner Glacier had probably been in service for a long time.
  

Spindle whorl and loom

During the European Iron Age each household probably made its own clothing. However, few cloth samples have survived. Usually we are able to conclude that textiles were made in households from the remains of implements used in the production of cloth. These include clay or stone spindle whorls (photo), which served as swinging weights on the wooden hand spindles used to spin wool into yarn. Loom weights of fired clay indicate cloth production. The weights were used to keep the loom threads tensioned.
Both spindle-whorl weights and loom weights also appear as burial pieces in women’s graves, indicating that weaving was probably a female activity.
  

The restoration of textile remnants

The Iron Age textile remnants from the Rieserferner Glacier on the Main Alpine Ridge were partly shredded. Large sections of the inner shoes were missing entirely. At the start of restoration all the fibres had to be cleaned of soil and dirt. To do so the restorers submerged the inner shoes  in a bath of demineralized water and swirled them gently to loosen the dirt. The leg coverings were spread out on a table and rinsed carefully with a jet of water. To dry them, plastic film and synthetic cotton were inserted in the legs. Finally, for display purposes the leg coverings were fitted with a supportive corset of modern fabric. The shoes are displayed on a woollen shoe last.
 

Prehistoric clothing

Prehistoric clothing remnants are a rare find. They have been conserved only under special conditions, for example in the ice of a glacier or in the low-oxygen soil of a peat bog. The Iceman’s clothing  and the Ice Age clothing remnants recovered several years ago on the Rieserferner Glacier on the Main Alpine Ridge are therefore very significant finds. Ötzi and his contemporaries used leather and hide as well as grasses to make their clothes. Animal sinew, wool, and grass threads were used for stitching. The use of woven fabrics in the same period has been confirmed by finds at pile-dwelling settlements.
Cloth is produced by intercrossing warp and weft threads, i.e. vertical and horizontal threads, on a loom. Both Ötzi’s clothing and that recovered from the Rieserferner Glacier show numerous repairs and patches. Prehistoric people probably kept their clothing in service for a long time, patching and repairing it themselves whenever necessary.