© Martin Shields
Found in 1979 Oakbank Textile is a rare example of organic preserved textile from Iron Age Scotland. A piece of textile made thousands of years ago in 390BC. What is the story behind this textile? Was the textile woven here on Loch Tay? Did the textile come to the Loch worn by someone? If so, where did they come from? Somewhere far away? Perhaps a trader? There are still so many unanswered questions, we just don’t know.
What we do know is how rare and special this piece of textile is. It has an unusual and distinctive 2/1 twill weave, which appears to be the earliest example of this type of weave in Britain. It is also, we believe, one of the largest pieces of preserved textile in Scotland we have from this time. Twill Fabrics are a Bronze Age innovation and refers to a distinctive method of pattern weaving in which threads are paired. Europe first developed twill weaving and the patterns based on it. The 2/2 twill weave was popular because it produced a flexible dense weave (2 over, 2 under). A 2/1 twill was innovative and unusual (2 over, 1 under).
Our textile is in two large pieces (47mm x 50mm) and (35mm x19mm) and there are several smaller fragments. It has been cleaned and freeze dried to provide stability. Looking at the textile carefully, there seems to be distinct tones in the textile, but no dyes were discernible, which could have been because of its long immersion in the Loch environment. Instead, pigmented yarns could have been used.
The sheep at this time would have been a breed similar to the Soay sheep and would have had a short fleece type, which from combed, parallel aligned wool, would produce a smooth firm yarn consistent with our textile. Sheep in the Iron Age started to become less pigmented and white wool was popular, because it would take on dyestuff readily.
Fabric weavings at this time are woven using a loom. Our textile could have been weaved using either a warp weighted loom, which we know from Oakbank Crannog excavation, was here in Loch Tay, or a two-beam vertical loom which may have perished leaving no trace, as they are made of wood.
This textile is much more than an inanimate artifact in a cabinet it also symbolises community and strength. Which is as relevant today as it was then. A shepherd and his flock of sheep, the spinner of wool, the dyer, the weaver and the person who sewed up the finished garment, as this could well have been clothing. It was made in a community, by a community, 2500 years ago… with CARE.
We have asked our team what the textile means to them
“Looking at it makes me feel warm. Wearing it, would have meant warmth. It would have been good keeping out the wind and the rain. I would have loved to have worn this, and at the same time I am in awe of their textile knowledge and ability to produce such finely woven fabric in the Iron Age” – Maureen
“Throughout time we’ve told stories about ourselves and how we dress, and this textile gives us a fantastic window on the stories Iron Age people were trying to tell about themselves” – Frankie
“For me the textile shows how talented the people were and without their skills and talent we wouldn’t have the foundations for the clothing and fabrics that we have today, like our everyday jeans” – Erin
“It’s an exciting opportunity to finally have the piece that was originally hidden from the public finally on display” – Fraser
“This piece of textile points to the great ingenuity, skill and craft that people had two and a half thousand years ago. It’s amazing to finally have it on display” – Altair
“It shows us they wanted to make beautiful textiles instead of bring patterns and they are more sophisticated and take more pride in their appearance than we first thought” – Isobelle
“The textile has helped establish a more accurate timeline of our Oakbank crannog which is incredibly interesting. It tells its own story; how did it get down there? It’s the only way we can tell the crannogs history” – Heather
“Makes me reflect and think about the people who have woven it and makes me connect to them” – Mariana
“The textile reinforces my thoughts that the people of the Iron Age are very skilled and wanted to show that” – Kath
“It’s a good thing, makes me feel happy that there’s more things in the museum” – Sebastian
“Having the textile piece in our collection shows resilience of how history has survived and brings everyone together. Gives us an insight of who they were and how thy were living. They have their own passions and own lives” Christina
