Dyeing and weaving works at Isthmia
1961; Archaeological Institute of America; Volume: 65; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0003-8113
Autores Tópico(s)Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis
ResumoThe Hellenistic ruins of Rachi, overlooking ancient Isthmia in Greece, contain a large number of cisterns and well cemented rectangular tanks and circular vats cut into the hillside. These were once thought to be remains of wine presses, but they are here explained as the ruins of a dyeing plant. There are various evidences, including the finding of a large number of loom weights, that the settlement was devoted to weaving, and dyeing would be naturally associated with it. Comparisons are made with dye works found in Palestine at Debir (Tell Beit Mirsim) and Tell Mor. Various bowls, cooking pots, and jugs were found which may have been used in the dyeing process. One vessel of peculiar construction may have been used for extracting dye from the raw material; a dark thick deposit remains in the bottom. A few murex shells were found. A gray ashy material found in one of the cisterns may have been plant ashes, a possible source of alkali carbonates, which was used as a fixative or detergent in dyeing, according to ancient sources. -- AATA
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