- Appearance, Life and Leisure -
the type and grade of warp and weft threads. Examples have been found at Hunsbury
hill-fort, Danebury and Verulamium.^19
The work of Dr Michael Ryder over the last thirty years or so has been of con-
siderable importance in establishing the colours of the natural fibres of fleece as well
as goat and other animal hair. Finds from Hallstatt in Austria have shown the
presence of white and coloured sheep wool in cloth which had not been dyed.^20 One
sample of white cloth had woven into it 'a rectangular pattern of bands of black or
dark brown wool, which was reminiscent of a Scottish tartan'.21 He also suggests that
grey sheep were predominant during the European Iron Age. The use of grey and
black wools is also attested by Tacitus's description of the women who stood with
the druids against Suetonius Paulinus and his army, on the southern shore of
Anglesey in AD 61 in modum Furiarum veste feriali -like Furies in funereal garb.^22
Pollux, writing in the late second century AD, notes that for mourning the Greeks
wore 'grey and black very like one another?3 which tends to bear out Ryder's
conclusions. Pliny the Elder also noted a natural 'reddish' coloured wool as well as
yellow or tan, black, white and brown.^24 White sheep appear increasingly to have
been selectively bred to produce a yarn and cloth which could be dyed to extend the
range of colours naturally available. Amongst the remains of textiles from Scythian
burials found at Pazryk and Bashadar dated to C.400 Be, woollen yarns coloured
pink, blue, yellow, yellow/ginger and brown have been identified.^25 Other colours
would have depended very much on the availability of berries, bark and lichens
which could produce a pleasing and relatively stable dye. Woad, for example,
produces a useful blue,26 whilst oak bark can be used to produce a range of light to
darker browns depending on the length of time the cloth is left in the vat. Madder
and Lady's bedstraw both produce orangey reds. Some descriptions of clothing worn
by the Celts are give by classical sources. Dio Cassius describes Boudica as wearing
'a multicoloured tunic folded round her, over which was a thick cloak fastened with
a brooch. This was how she always dressed.'27 The warriors of Gaul were described
by Diodorus Siculus as wearing 'a striking kind of clothing, tunics dyed and stained
in various colours, and trousers, which they call by the name of bracae'.28 The
Gaulish aristocracy was described by Strabo as wearing 'clothes that have been dyed
and shot through with gold',29 whilst Martial says the 'Gaul dresses mostly in reds'.30
The presence of coloured patterning on garments is suggested by simple incised and
punched decoration on some of the surviving figurines (see n. 7). Other recorded
garments include the Gallic sagum, a coarse woollen cloak or mantle; and the famous
burrus Britannicus which was priced at a maximum of 6,000 denarii in the Prices
Edict of Diocletian.^31
Animal skins have been used from early prehistoric times for clothing and other
uses; in the form of leather, as well as complete with the original wool, hair or fur,
for instance the sheepskin cape from Huldremose, Randers, in Denmark dated to the
Iron Age;32 and from Hallstatt have come caps made of brown and black undyed
sheepskin, and a white sheepskin bag.^33
Whether the description of Boudica is based on an eyewitness account or not,27
the use of brooches and pins to fasten garments or hold them together is witnessed
by finds from archaeological sites, and more importantly from inhumations where
the dead were laid to rest with a range of possessions appropriate for the afterlife,
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