Adventures in Historical Tabletweaving

Update: I had the shawl incorrectly dated to the 11th century-it's a bit later than that! Maikki Karisto and the Tallinn University Institute of History have given me permission to share some photos she took last year of a shawl from Siksälä and specifically its tablet woven border. This shawl can be found in the Tallinn University Institute of History archaeological collection under the major number AI 5100.  It dates to around the 13th-14th century. The tablet weaving is about 1cm in width.  It is in Baltic two-hole technique, or Hochdorf technique, depending on how you look at it. More information on the finds from Siksälä can be found in the book Siksälä, a community at the frontiers, Iron Age and Medieval by Silvia Laul & Heiki Valk.

Warp: White and green silk   Weft: Green silk Pattern: Hallstatt Inv.Nr. 89.870 Cards: 12 pattern + 1 and 3 border Width: 9mm Length: Approx. 75cm This band is covered in Bunte Tuche & Gleissendes Metall, Frühe Kelten der Hallstattzeit , and also "Tablet-woven Ribbons from the prehistoric Salt-mines at Hallstatt, Austria" - results of some experiments in Hallstatt Textiles . The former describes it as being in Hochdorf technique and the latter as being regular 3/1 broken twill. I wove the pattern in Hochdorf structure, but rather than the alternating pairs of SS and ZZ I oriented the tablets all Z on the left and S on the right. This allowed the tablets to turn as a pack 2/3 of the time (border excluded). Sorry the photo is a little blurry, but the end result is quite snappy in person especially considering its simplicity. If you're wondering about the uneven border, this was present on the original.