Dr. Serge-Yan Landau

School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures, University of Haifa; Emeritus, Volcani Center

Analyzing Animal Fibers in Ancient Textiles from Arid Environments through Optical Microscopy and Image Analysis

Textiles, composed of animal hair and/or vegetal fibers, sometimes preserve at archaeological sites in arid environments. At Early Islamic Nahal Omer in the Arabah, thousands of textile fragments have been recovered in recent excavations. A rapid and cost-effective method to assign animal hair and wool in ancient textiles to animal species was developed, using modern animal hair references and light microscopy. The hair of the following relevant animals was studied: sheep, goats, camels and rabbit. The new method allows to identify sheep hair to a 90% level of confidence, goat hair to an 80% level of confidence, distinguish rabbit hairs unequivocally and distinguish between dromedary and Bactrian camel hair. A proof-of-concept has shown that sheep hair was the most frequently used for textiles in Nahal Omer, and camelid hairs were found in wool and felt specimens.