[MR] BBC: Evidence for Earliest Tartan

[Karen Hume]

Gentlrmen,

   Both very interesting articles.  I always enjoy Lord Mungo's offerings.
The find in China of the 'potentially' Celtic group of people - and it was
a small tribe, not just one man, definitelt predates the Caledonian find in
North Africa.  However, The actual origin of the group in China is still
being studied and traced.  So far all evidence indicates a strong
possibility of them being Celtic but nothing beyond that. I have seen some
of the mummies from the dig and they are, indeed, impressive.  By the way -
they are 'natural' mummies, having been preserved by nature rather than by
surgical means and special herbs and such to preserve tissue like the
Egyptians practiced.  There are several excellent books out on this group.
This one is particularly good.

The Tarim Mummies; J.P. Mallory & V.H. Mair, Thames and Hudson, London, 2000



Enjoy!



Chagan


On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 9:56 AM, Groff, Garth (ggg9y) <ggg9y at virginia.edu>wrote:

> M'Lord Steven,
>
> Very interesting. I'm not really up on checked cloth from other sites,
> though I've read mentions of it in several sources (including reference in
> the BBC story). Checked cloth is known from a number of cultures around the
> world and is a very old pattern of weave. Your story suggests the man may
> be a 3,000 Celt. They were once a numerous and wide-ranging people, so this
> seems possible. Obviously the mummy pre-dates both the Roman sculpture and
> the Falkirk tartan. However, it is not connected with Caledonia, and the
> Roman attempts at conquest of what we now know as Scotland. My interest was
> mainly about how the Roman sculpture and the Falkirk tartan relate to
> Scottish costume in our SCA period.
>
> Thanks for calling this very interesting article to my attention.
>
> Yours Aye,
>
>
> Mungo
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Steven Chang [mailto:moondragn at gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 9:25 AM
> To: Groff, Garth (ggg9y)
> Cc: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
> Subject: Re: [MR] BBC: Evidence for Earliest Tartan
>
> Which one is earlier? This or
>
> http://uyghuramerican.org/old/articles/471/1/A-meeting-of-civilisations-The-mystery-of-Chinas-celtic-mummies/A-meeting-of-civilisations-The-mystery-of-Chinas-celtic-mummies.html
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 7:13 AM, Groff, Garth (ggg9y) <ggg9y at virginia.edu>
> wrote:
> > Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,
> >
> > BBC has a short story today on a Roman statue from North Africa which
> shows a "Caledonian" wearing tartan trews (breeches, or hosen) dating from
> the 3rd century CE. This closely tallies with the "Falkirk Tartan" from
> Scotland, a piece of checked wool cloth found as a stopper in an
> earthenware pot filled with 3rd century Roman coins. While neither are
> early evidence for the kilt (that holy grail of all Scottish wannabes that
> can only be dated to 1594), both prove the early existence of simple tartan
> cloth used as breeches or as a shoulder wrap. This statue is one more piece
> of evidence that justifies pre-kilt tartan for SCA re-enactors.
> >
> > Here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20579219
> >
> > Yours Aye,
> >
> >
> > Lord Mungo Napier, Who Wears Tartan Mogens
> >
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