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The aim of this research was to produce reference data for the study and identification of fibres of carbonised excavated textiles. Thus, the effects of carbonisation (incomplete burning) on the morphology and dimensions of selected fibres used in textile production were investigated. A set of standard test, commercial, and hand-made fabrics, of four cellulosic (cotton, flax, hemp, nettle) and two proteinaceous (silk, wool/ wool felt) fibres, were used for the experiments. Samples were carbonised in a limited oxygen environment at 250, 350, and 500°C for one hour (apart from the wool samples for which the duration of the experiment had to be lowered to six minutes). Wool and silk samples were destroyed at temperatures above 250°C. All cellulosic and the silk samples shrank and their weight was reduced at different percentages that increased as the temperature increased. Exceptionally, wool textile samples exhibited extreme shrinkage but also an increase in their weight. Similarly, the fibre diameters of the cellulosic and silk fibres shrunk gradually at different degrees as the temperature increased, and some exhibited marked degradation patterns, like lacerations in flax, ridges in hemp, raggedness in nettle, and cracks in silk fibres. Wool fibres swell locally but retained the scale pattern on the surface. In general, an increase in the weave count of the textile samples was observed. However, the morphology of the fibres characteristic to their identification did not alter to an unrecognisable degree as a result of artificial carbonisation, as long as the material was preserved.

The article discusses the conservation and analyses of two excavated textile fragments from Egypt that belong to the Museum of Modern Greek Culture in Athens. The fragments entered a previous museum collection as part of a private donation in the nineteenth century and bibliographical sources suggested the two fragments once belonged to the same object, and are potentially associated with a third fragment belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The analysis presented here further corroborates the hypothesis that the two fragments are associated, and provides solid evidence for any future comparison with the third fragment. Due to the poor condition of the two finds, radiocarbon analysis had to be repeated and, for the same reason, the conservation methodology followed for drying the fragments after wet cleaning had to be dramatically adapted, and in contrast to the normal procedures developed and embraced by the conservation community. Nevertheless, both analysis and conservation were successful and beneficial to the finds.

This paper discusses the selection of packaging and storage means that facilitate the preservation, protection andmanagerial needs for a group of excavated textiles where their physical and chemical properties have been unrecognisably altered as a result of the burial process (in this case mineralisation). The newly acquired properties include a significant loss in weight (possibly due to mineralisation causing dehydration), extreme hydrophobia, brittleness and zero mechanical strength and elasticity. Developing an appropriate packaging and storage method depends on the methodology employed, the system selected and the materials used. The box-in-box method was selected for better controlling environmental parameters. The textiles were systematically organised in a way that they are stable and readily accessible withminimum handling. Thematerials used included open and close-cell polyethylene foam, copolymer polyethylene and polypropylene board, non-woven polyethylene fabric and the antistatic type of polyester film. All materials and methods applied exhibit great versatility and are potentially useful for conservators in similar situations.

This thesis is one outcome of research aimed to raise the awareness of textiles excavated in Greece. The inherently sensitive nature of excavated textiles accounts for the rarity and poor condition of the finds, making them more often than not unidentifiable for the archaeologists, a conservation challenge and a puzzle for textile historians/curators. Conservators are often the intermediary between the objects they care for and the people for whom these objects are preserved. Analytical methods of investigation provide a means of increasing understanding of excavated textiles, and in this way enhance their conservation. Hence, it was decided to experiment with certain nondestructive, instrumental analytical methods of investigation, namely stereo, optical and electron microscopy, coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS), FTIR and Raman microspectroscopy, and XRF spectroscopy, with the aim of material characterisation and identification. A survey through the Archives of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture revealed 65 different cases where textiles had been preserved in burial contexts. Four different environments favorable for the preservation of textiles in Greece were identified and four finds representative of these conditions were selected and subjected to instrumental analysis. The finds are the main case study, ‘Argos’ (found in association with copper), and ‘Theva’ (found in a charred state), ‘Kalyvia’ (found impregnated with calcium salts) and ‘Nikaia’ (found in association with copper and in anoxic conditions). The quality of the results varied according to the type of preservation and the condition of the finds. The combination of stereomicroscopy, ESEM-EDS, XRF and FTIR gave the most reliable results. The outcomes of the experimentation formed the basis for the development of guidelines, designed to help archaeologists, conservators and textile historians/curators to