The Ancient Technique of Sprang

Experimental Archaeology. The Search for Sprang: Report on

the Techniques and Misrepresentation of This Form of Cloth

Production (Sprang) in the Historical Record.

1

UCD School of Archaeology College of Arts and Celtic Studies

Dolores Kearney

Abstract

This experimental project shall look at the manufacture and

production of a textile using the ancient production processes

of sprang. Comparable in the techniques and appearances to

weaving and knitting but with very different production

systems. This experimental project will involve the design and

manufacture of a loom with the purpose of attempting to

produce a cloth using sprang techniques. The aim of this

project and its results shall offer an explanation as to why

sprang suffered a loss of identity in the archaeological and

historical records.

2

Plate: 1 Bronze Age Hairnet (Barber 1991:123)

Contents

List of Figures and Plates.

Figures.

Fig 1: Skrystrup Cap……………..11

Fig 2: Greek Hand Loom…………13

Fig 3: Loom Diagram………….…20

3

Fig 4: Facebook Page, “Search for Sprang”…22

Plates.

Plate 1: Bronze Age Hat………………………………………………………2

Plate 2: Panels of Sprang……………………………………………………..8

Plate 3: Carol James and military sashes……………………………….…..10

Plate 4: Borum Eshij Bonnet…………………………………………….…11

Plate 5: Coptic Hairnet……………………………………………….……..12

Plate 6: Fibre Structure of Sprang…………………………………………..14

Plate 7: Ash Branches…………………………………………………….…15

Plate 8: Bark from Willow Tree……………………………………………..16

Plate 9: Craft Wool…………………………………………………………..16

Plate 10: Loom Bindings…………………………………………………….17

Plate 11: Inner Adjustable Loom……………………………………………17

Plate 12: The Loom Completed…………………………………………………………..18

Plate 13: Silvia Doyle……………………………………………………………..……..19

4

1.Research Question One.

1.1 Tracing sprang through: original surviving textiles,

iconography and archaeological

record…………………………………………………………………………………5

1.2 Why did sprang suffer a loss of

identity?.................................................

.............6

2. Research Question Two.

2.1The process of loom production………………………………………………...6

2.2 Learning sprang………………………………………………………………...7

3. Current Research Knowledge of Sprang………………………………………...8

4. The Project………………………………………………………………………...11

5

4.1 Tracing sprang through: original surviving textiles,

iconography and archaeological

record…………………………………………………………………………………………11

4.2 Why did sprang suffer a loss of

identity......................................................

.....................13

4.3 The process of loom

production…………………………………………………….....15

4.4 Learning sprang………………………………………………………………………..19

4.5 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………21

5. Sharing Sprang…………………………………………………………………………...22

6. Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………...24

1. Research Question One.

1.1 Tracing sprang through: original surviving cloth,

iconography and archaeological record.

6

The survival of organic material is depended on conditions

that allow its preservation. From the frozen environment of

the North, the very dry arid surroundings south of the equator

and to the waterlogged bogs, all these conditions halt or slow

the decaying processes (Renfrew and Bahn 2004:63-72). The

Bronze Age saw sprang cloth emerge as caps and hairnets

through bog body discoveries and burials, these originals were

hidden by the environment and time. In plain sight was

iconography and it was on Neolithic potsherds that sprang

patterns made their first appearance. These twisted or plaited

threads created a form of impressed decoration upon the

potsherds (Barber 1991:123). It is the evidence of iconography

that details the worldwide adoption and adaption of the sprang

technique. Indications of the misrepresentation of sprang in

the record of archaeology and history became apparent in the

nineteenth century when archaeological finds prompted a re-

examination of new and existing museum pieces.

1.2 Why did sprang suffer a loss of identity in the

records?

7

Both the process of sprang production and its cloth suffered

this misrepresentation in the archaeological and historical

record. The sprang loom was depicted as a weaving loom and its

cloth was confused with fishing nets and early weaving

material. This is understandable as there are more

similarities then there are differences. However, the

differences are there and these differences between the

technologies should have ensured that sprang kept its identity

through time. This report shall investigate possible reasons

as to why the loss of identity occurred.

2. Research Question Two.

2.1 The process of loom production

The aim of this question is to understand through the use of

experimentation the reason or reasons why sprang became, the lost

cloth, in the historical record. One of the first steps is the

production of a loom to test the hypothesis that a loom for

sprang may prove difficult to construct. It will also serve to

create my own sensory knowledge of sprang (Outram 2008:1).This

creation of sensory knowledge is defined as an exploration of

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sprang, not an actual experiment (Reynolds 1999:1). For this

report to produce any new experimental knowledge it would have

to incorporate a controlled scientific element (Hurcombe

2008:83).

2.2 Learning sprang

A totally controlled scientific element and its outcomes leave

no space for concepts and the development of these concepts

(Hurcombe 2008:83). A well-rounded interpretation of the past

and its entanglement with the present is one that balances out

all aspects and includes experiment with experiential

(Hurcombe 2008:84). This first-hand aspect is one that

encounters curves and sudden stops as details and imagined

outcomes to do not add up, this is the human element (Hadfield

2013:2). I have no expertise in scientific analysis or

statistics nor have I ever produced a textile of any shape or

form. However, I like a good challenge and this was one to fit

that description.

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3. Current Research Knowledge of Sprang.

The reclamation, examination and preservation of textiles has

benefited from the huge advances in scientific techniques.

Elizabeth Wincott Heckett (1991) writes of the sad state of

fragments that are excavated and presented for specialist

analysis, likened some fragments “to something the cat brought

in”. The ability to retrieve information from these sad

fragments is a test of the analyst’s ability. With advances in

10

scientific technology, textiles and their different production

processes are contributing far more than their earlier nuanced

aspect to the archaeological record. Hence, textiles are

achieving a more general recognition in terms of their

archaeological and historical importance (Good 2001:210). The

rising profile of textiles attributed to the efforts of

archaeologists, such as Elizabeth Barber, Junis Bird and Irene

Emory.

Apart from the archaeological developments in textiles, the

art world took sprang techniques from their ancient slumber

and in 1974 these techniques experienced something of a

revival in the city of San Francisco. A sprang art concept

used the technique to present and display a 2,500 lb exterior

sprang sculpture termed “Fiber Allusions”, that wove and

merged itself with the Transamerica building (Kliot

1974:4).The artists used sisal rope and sprang techniques to

create a fusion landscape of living art, urban building and

human element as visitors to the site added enhancements to

the sprang panels (Kliot 1974:2).

11

Plate 2 : Panels of Sprang (Kliot 1974:2)

Moving forward to the 1980s American archaeological studies in

textiles developed to include methods of analysing damaged

fibres and comparative studies of clothing textiles, customs

and associated gender issues (Good 2001:209). Eva Koch (1999)

details headwear from the Cimbrians that included “a female

bonnet……in the technique called sprang” and fur-caps with

peak, only worn by men. These studies of clothing gender

customs take the report towards current research and the

acknowledgment of sprang in the ancient clothing catalogue.

The use of sprang in the catalogue is not the preserve of the

female as Carol James (fibre artist and teacher), writes in

her article for the Textile Society of America, “Re-creating

Military Sashes: Reviving the Sprang Technique” (James

2012:1). The 2012 anniversary of the American War of 1812,

sparked a need for sprang constructed military sashes and this

in turn sparked James’ desire to research sprang technique.

12

She cites, Peter Collingwood’s “Techniques of Sprang” as the

most comprehensive title on sprang. She also explains that to

understand sprang, then one must think of the technique as a

method of working. A clue to the disappearance of sprang from

the record is mentioned in 2012, in correspondence between

James and Dutch sprang expert Coby Reijnders-Baas. Reijnders-

Baas spoke of the traditions in the Netherlands in the 1700s,

of plying silk thread to create sashes, this was time-

consuming and the consideration developed that weaving was

more efficient (James 2012:6). I understand that the use of

silk is a specialist fabric in sprang but the use of other

fibres could have proved equally time consuming. James points

to what may be termed as “guest appearances of sprang in

history”, this is an area that the report shall examine in the

main section. Carol James (2012) ends her research on a

positive note and encourages more people to interact with

sprang technique.

13

Plate 3: Carol James recreating sprang military sashes (James

2012:5).

14

4. The Project.

4.1 Tracing sprang through: original surviving textiles in

the archaeology record and iconography.

The Borum Eshoj Bonnet excavated in

1871 from imposing barrows that

suggested that the outlined bonnet was

part of a suite of grave goods that was

indicative of high status female

(Dungaile:2007).

Plate 4: Borum Eshoj Bonnet outlined in red (Danish Bronze

Age,1,400 BC).

If the bonnet above indicated status, then below is a drawing of a

cap found in the grave of a female whose dress and hair style

would appear to specify the ceremonial. A visual sign of women’s

role either socially or ritually in the Bronze Age (Kristiansen

and Larsson 2005:152).The hair was combed over a pad and bound

with a cord. It was covered with a hairnet and beside her was a

woollen sprang cap (Natmus:DK 2014).

15

Fig 1: Pictured left is the Skrydstrup Cap c.1300 BC

Sprang techniques became part of diffusion through

local integration and regional variations. For

example, at Nazca, Peru (c.300 BC) woollen sprang

scarves were excavated with complex patterning

alongside sprang interlaced bags (Dunguaile:2007).

A large variety of sprang clothing items were

preserved in Coptic graves due to the dry

environment and the Coptic ritual of burying their

dead fully clothed. The Coptic sprang hairnets

provided matches with the bronze portrait head outlined below.

These bag-like hairnets were a common type in Coptic Egypt

(Jenkins and Williams 1987:13).

16

Plate 5: Coptic Hairnet (Jenkins

and Williams 1987)

Sprang technology and clothing articles are featured on many

ceramics of the Mediterranean regions. One remarkable example

is a bronze portrait head discovered in 1879 ( featured on

cover), the authenticity of the piece was called into question

on the basis that her hairnet was too modern and therefore the

head was a forgery. The re-examination of sprang technique at

the end of the nineteenth century by textile historians proved

that the bronze hairnet was actual cast from a real sprang

hairnet, therefore the portrait head was authentic (2nd-4th

century AD) (Jenkins and Williams 1987:8-15).

The archaeology record has reliably re-instated sprang as a

different cloth with different

production values, which produces

17

a cloth that bears similarities to net weaving and textile

weaving (Barber 1991:123).The iconography assisted in the

refining of tapestry frames and hairnets on Greek vases where

the technique of sprang is clearly shown (Barber 1991:124).

Fig 2: A Greek hand loom. Highlighted in yellow are the top

and bottom rows that are created simultaneously as the centre

role is worked (James 2012:7).

4.2 Why did sprang suffer a loss of identity?

Before this report attempts to answer the above question, I

shall define sprang technique. Then examine its position in

the corpus of clothing, where clothing was used for practical

and functional purposes. I shall address the use of sprang as

a ritual item and final look at the reason or reasons as to

why sprangs differences failed to protect its identity as a

separate cloth producing process.

Sprang is a plaiting technique, the cloth is constructed by

twisted threads that are stretched on a loom. The threads are

in groups of two and they interlink with their neighbouring

18

group in a style, that resembles a four stranded hair plait

( James:2014)

Plate 6: The fibre structure of sprang (

James,2014).

Survival in especially cold environments required fabricated

transferable insulation (Gilligan 2010:16). An apt description

for the functional of human clothes; these were items that

functioned for specific purposes. In the case of sprang its

functional was comparable with “the string vest”, useless on

its own but a wonderful insulator with other layers of

clothing and air. Sprang as a hairnet would have needed

another layer of material over it for the hairnet to function

as a thermal unit, this is a form of complex clothing

(Gilligan 2010:16).

Another complex concept of clothing developed in the Bronze

Age with the changing social and ritual purposes and the role

19

of the female. Kristiansen and Larsson (2005) assess the

hairstyles, ornaments and hairnets of the period and suggest

associations with status and symbols within rituals. Like the

previous paragraph, sprang would appear to have needed another

component to make it a success in terms of functional and

ritual. The pieces of the “Search for Sprang” jigsaw are

moving into place as we begin to view sprang as a cloth whose

identity was hidden under the identities of other textiles.

The cloth and its production technology were slowly

disappearing as improved, innovative textile technology began

to emerge.

4.3 The process of loom

production

The aim in this section

was to test the

hypothesis that a loom

would prove difficult to

construct and therefore

attest to the loss of

20

sprang identity. I decided to use the raw material of ash

branches. I live in a rural part of Co Wexford, with two ring

forts close by and plenty of small areas of woodlands. I would

be very aware of the biodiversity of our woodlands, so with

this in mind I decided to pick only branches that had fallen

after the Christmas storms (Cross 2012 :1).

Plate 7 : My first ash branch.

Ash is one of Irelands tallest trees and I needed to find some

in the centre of a woodland as these ash trees are usually

straighter, more competition for sunlight (Cross 2012 :14).

I was able to collect four almost straight pieces of ash, now

they needed to be bound together. I had stripped wild willow

bark last summer and I was considering using it to bind the

four pieces into a frame, but this proved unworkable.

21

Plate 8 :Bark from the willow used as

binding in summer 2103 (Kearney:2013).

Plate 9: Craft wool to bind the ash branches and step two of

the loom manufacture was completed (Kearney:2014).

Plate 10 : The loom bindings

of craft wool (Kearney:2014).

22

At this stage the outer frame had proved easy to manufacture,

I had needed to saw both legs to make them steady and lessen

the chance of splinters. I now needed to construct two rods

that were adjustable inside the main frame. This process was

achieved using two willow branches tied top and bottom and

connected left and right by two double strands of wool.

Plate 11: The inner adjustable loom (Kearney:2014).

23

Plate 12: The Loom completed (Kearney:2014).

The loom was now constructed and the overall manufacture

process had proved relatively easy. However, I have nothing to

test that against in factual or scientific terms. This is

purely knowledge gained from the sensory experience of loom

construction and it appears to disapprove the hypothesis that

24

a sprang loom may have proven difficult to construct in the

past. The next level is another sensory issue that will assist

in attempting to find the answer to the lost identity of

sprang.

4.4 Learning Sprang

Learning of sprang was a test of my loom and my modern ability

to learn through replication, this ancient technique. The aim

was to determine in a non-scientific manner as to why

misrepresentation of sprang occurred. I undertook this

learning of sprang by three methods, reading, online tutorials

and lessons from a wise woman in sprang.

Plate 13: Silvia Doyle at Viking Festival Clontarf 2012.

Montague Heritage Services (2012) Wexford. Available at:

https:// www. facebook.com/ photo.php?

fbid=442281915790193&set=t.1819249321&type=1&theater [Accessed

12 March 2014].

25

Silvia Doyle is part of a living history group and as the

image above demonstrates a source of knowledge on the

production of sprang. She tutored me in the basic techniques

with patience and allowed me to practise on her loom. For

continual learning she pointed me in the direction of online

tutorials ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2pcDEnN3Jk). This

was a step by step guide to sprang given by a lady called

Blue, who works at Drent Museum in the Netherlands. These

26

guides were easy to follow but what was slowing me down was

the instability of the loom. It was not free-standing and at

the four corners it was very unstable. I contacted Silvia and

she suggested that it was a style issue with my loom and that

there were many variations that could correct these teething

problems (see diagram below).

Fig 3: The diagram

offered a solution to

stabilise the balance

issue by providing a

type of footboard and it

would also make the loom

vertical. The loom in

this diagram is a

variation on my loom. I

had an inner flexible

section that allowed me

to increase or decrease tension in the plaited rows, however

this style decreased the size of the cloth that could be

produced (Doyle:2014)

27

4.5 Conclusions.

This section of the report began by tracing the delicate

fingerprint of sprang through history. Articles of sprang

clothing appeared as grave goods in status graves. In the

Bronze Age, it played a role in rituals (female priestess) and

its technology was featured upon ceramics in an almost global

context.

The construction of a sprang loom and the task of learning the

method was undertaken to understand the practical implications

of ‘actualistic’ development (Outram 2008:2). This report was

unable to carry out any scientific investigation on the

materials involved therefore, I cannot prove or disprove that

my method of loom building and sprang production would have

worked for my task in the past (Greene 2002:223). Commenting

on my shared learning experience, it proved that a collection

of individual attitudes and practises could connect in the

collective mind-set, a community was developing (Silvia and

I), and would continue to grow with the sharing of knowledge

28

(Shama 1997:7). This process of community and knowledge

sharing shall be outlined and explained in the next section

“Sharing Sprang”.

My first paragraph in this section mentioned the female role

of sprang in the Bronze Age however, there was also a male

role for the use of sprang produced clothing. A military role

for sprang was outlined by Carol James in her paper (2012)

“Re-creating Military Sashes: Reviving the Sprang Technique”,

sashes were one part of a symbol that identified a sense of

membership with a particular order. Three key words are

contained in the above sentence “one part of”, sprang

technique was emerging as a cloth that needed another

component with it in order to function efficiently and

effectively. As a thermal unit of clothing it needed another

layer to operate at optimum level, in ritual it was placed

with ornamentation and in the military it served as part of an

emblem. These are all probable factors as to why sprang lost

its identity in the record of history and was mistaken for

weaving and knitting technology as time progressed.

5. Sharing Sprang

29

Communications in any process is challenging. When the subject

is an ancient textile production technology which predates

weaving and knitting and with similarities that cause

confusion with

netting, then

task is a

difficult one.

The word

‘ancient’ caused

me to wonder in

regard to what

was the most up

to date and most used communications tool of the present,

which young and old used. My answer was Facebook, I

established a community page with relative ease, outlining and

explaining my project, ‘Search for Sprang’ (Kearney, 2014).

From there I connected with 142 people all with various levels

of interest in sprang. What became noticeable, very quickly,

the more postings on the page, the more members inter-reacted

and shared, thus spreading membership to many different

regions. One gentleman spoke of spranging on the bus to work

30

in California. One or two members of the page did expressed

some difficulty in producing a workable item of clothing but

they all were united in expressions of enthusiasm for the

production of sprang. Another method of communicating the

technology of sprang to the general public is through living

history. The majority of the general public are engaging with

the archaeological past during their leisure time, so an

element of entertainment is required. Accuracy in the

presentation must be maintained in order demonstrate the rare

ability for archaeology to present a view that the past

matters now and in the future (Marwick 2010:395). Sprang is

ideal for hands on engagement and it has made appearances in

the Irish National Heritage Park in Wexford and at historical

festivals. While looking at the INHP website, I noticed that

workshops featured in the park. While one workshop was

entitled “Viking Shield Making” and was hands-on, the other

workshop was a learning and witnessing workshop of daily life.

This primary focus on militarily determinism in history (Barry

2008:128) needs to be addressed and a hands-on workshop of

daily activities could go towards addressing the balance. The

technique of sprang, which is rhythmic, efficient and

31

creatively productive could take a vanguard position in

realigning the balance between aspects of life past, present

and future.

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