[MR] BBC: Evidence for Earliest Tartan

Tue Dec 4 13:20:33 PST 2012

I was going to mention the Tarim Basin plaids (specifically, Hami and
Qizilchoqa) as well-- thanks to M'Lord Stephen for bringing them up!  This
is an area of the world I'm personally really interested in, because of the
role in the development of the Silk Road.

Some of the finds are indeed very similar to modern Scottish tartans,
enough so that the Scottish Tartans Authority has its own page on the
subject: http://www.tartansauthority.com/tartan/the-birth-of-tartan/.  The
main example mentioned there and depicted at
http://www.stonearabie.com/Qizilchoqa.html is evidently more complex than
most modern setts.  (BTW, I would love to find somebody to make fabric in
this pattern, as Master Ii wants a kilt made from it-- so if anyone has any
ideas for that, let me know!)

The Chinese fabrics date from around 1000 BC, and show similarities to the
textile finds from the proto-Celts at Hallstadt (Austria).  They are also
pretty different than the textiles that the first "Tarim mummies" from
Qawrighul about 1000 years earlier had-- so there was definitely some
innovation or diffusion of ideas going on, although we don't know where
within the Indo-European "culture area" it started.  The find that Lord
Mungo posted about makes it clear when this particular technology made it
to Caledonia, which is truly awesome!

The Mummies of Urumchi by Elizabeth Wayland Barber (1999) is the other "big
book" on these finds-- and Barber is a textile historian, specifically, so
her book is well worth reading for people who are interested on this.  (We
also have a Chinese reference on recent textile finds in the Tarim Basin if
anyone is interested, with lots of pictures and diagrams.)

- Abe Akirakeiko

On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 12:08 PM, Karen Hume <chagankhulan at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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