Textile Fabric Pseudomorphs, A Fossilized Form of Textile Evidence

Abstract

An examination o f the few published reports o f the phenomenon o f textile fabric pseudomorphism reveals that textile pseudomorphs have been found on bronze and brass objects and probably on iron objects. Consideration of these reports indicates that there is inconsistency in the methodology used to identify a fabric pseudomorph and in application of the resulting information to a reconstruction of textile fabrication behavior. An evaluation of the theoretical chemical equilibria involved in the interaction of a metallic object and textile fiber system provides the following in formation: (1) a stagnant damp environment is required, (2) the metal object in contact with the textile must be buried in soil, (3) the type of soil must be conducive to slow fiber degradation and metal corrosion, and (4) the depth of the effective area ofpseudomorph formation will be the depth of the effective area of weathering of ore deposits.