I blame the weather for still feeling tired - it's mostly grey outside, and rather cold, though today there is a little more sunshine (which is nice).
There's better news than bad weather, though! A good while ago, I had the opportunity to take a closer look at two braided bands from the Hallstatt salt mines. Ah, it is always a wonderful thing to sit in the basement depot and see the original textiles, dating back to the Bronze Age, all sitting nicely in their little protective boxes and those in turn in a chest of drawers. (It's cold down there, though. I caught more than one cold during my visits... being so wrapped up in fascination that I did not realise I was cooling out too much.)
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One of the two bands discussed in the article. This is one of my working photos - the article has nicer images than this, of course.
From that close look and some trials in braiding, plus cooperation with Karina Grömer and Joy Boutrup, the two bands are now finally published in form of a proper, nice article, printed in the latest issue (n. 57) of the
Archaeological Textiles Review.
If you have an academia.edu-account,
you can find it here.