The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Looking into the past: the potential of x-radiography as an investigative technique for archaeological and ethnographic textiles

Looking into the past: the potential of x-radiography as an investigative technique for archaeological and ethnographic textiles
Looking into the past: the potential of x-radiography as an investigative technique for archaeological and ethnographic textiles
X-radiography is an established non-destructive analytical technique which is not usually applied to the investigation of textiles. This paper presents initial results of a five year project. This innovative and collaborative research between the Universities of Southampton and Bradford is being carried out under the auspices of the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies. The potential of X-radiography as a tool for the characterisation, condition assessment and study of archaeological and ethnographic textiles is presented. Specific techniques, which have been applied to the x-radiography of textiles, are outlined, including low kV imaging with appropriate filtration. Brief reference is made to the benefits of image digitisation and digital image processing of the resulting X-radiographs. As a result of collaborations with a number of U.K. museums and collections, a series of case studies of archeological, ethnographic and folk textiles, including quilts, will be presented. These case histories demonstrate the added value that such investigative techniques can provide, not only in the greater understanding of the artifact but also in aiding decision-making by conservators and curators. X-radiographs are also an exciting and dramatic tool for communicating a greater understanding of textiles to the public.
X-radiography, textiles, conservation decision-making, archaeological textiles
0974643815
87-97
North American Textile Conservation Committee(NATCC)
Brooks, M.M.
c0e8f43c-4324-46c5-97b9-bea17e9eb3b0
O'Connor, Sonia A
680d6416-09c0-45f9-9f0d-acab08c5e41e
Cortes, Emilia
Thomassen-Krauss, Suzanne
Brooks, M.M.
c0e8f43c-4324-46c5-97b9-bea17e9eb3b0
O'Connor, Sonia A
680d6416-09c0-45f9-9f0d-acab08c5e41e
Cortes, Emilia
Thomassen-Krauss, Suzanne

Brooks, M.M. and O'Connor, Sonia A (2007) Looking into the past: the potential of x-radiography as an investigative technique for archaeological and ethnographic textiles. Cortes, Emilia and Thomassen-Krauss, Suzanne (eds.) In Recovering the Past: the Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Textiles. North American Textile Conservation Committee(NATCC). pp. 87-97 .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

X-radiography is an established non-destructive analytical technique which is not usually applied to the investigation of textiles. This paper presents initial results of a five year project. This innovative and collaborative research between the Universities of Southampton and Bradford is being carried out under the auspices of the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies. The potential of X-radiography as a tool for the characterisation, condition assessment and study of archaeological and ethnographic textiles is presented. Specific techniques, which have been applied to the x-radiography of textiles, are outlined, including low kV imaging with appropriate filtration. Brief reference is made to the benefits of image digitisation and digital image processing of the resulting X-radiographs. As a result of collaborations with a number of U.K. museums and collections, a series of case studies of archeological, ethnographic and folk textiles, including quilts, will be presented. These case histories demonstrate the added value that such investigative techniques can provide, not only in the greater understanding of the artifact but also in aiding decision-making by conservators and curators. X-radiographs are also an exciting and dramatic tool for communicating a greater understanding of textiles to the public.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2007
Venue - Dates: Congreso de Conservacion de Textiles de America del Norte 2005, Mexico City, Mexico, 2005-11-09 - 2005-11-11
Keywords: X-radiography, textiles, conservation decision-making, archaeological textiles

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 37964
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/37964
ISBN: 0974643815
PURE UUID: 7e276ec5-f79a-48a3-9fd6-4e7f0cdd7d46

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 26 May 2006
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 15:38

Export record

Contributors

Author: M.M. Brooks
Author: Sonia A O'Connor
Editor: Emilia Cortes
Editor: Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×