The Orkney Hood Reconstruction by Jacqui Wood:
During my visit to Saveok Mill, I was enlightened by one of Jacqui Wood’s Experimental Archaeology Projects … when she was commissioned to create a replica/reconstruction of Britain’s earliest textile clothing that was found – The Orkney Hood. You can read Jacqui’s write-up about her project here: http://www.archaeologyonline.org/Orkney%20Hood/Orkney%20Hood%20Main%20Page.htm.
The Archaeological Remains of one of Britain’s oldest textiles, named “The Orkney Hood”, after the parish in which it was found (St. Andrew’s Parish Orkney) in 1867 serves as an example of some of the best preservation of textile in existence. Found preserved in peat, was this unique garment with radiocarbon dates for the garment was approximately 1595 + B.P. i.e. AD c. 250-615. A very common garment for its time, The Orkney Hood was a fringed woolen cloak that had remained in the National Museum of Scotland for almost 83 years until it was examined by A. S. Henshall who suggested that it was a Iron Age or Viking hood based on the woven bands of fringe found on the garment. The preservation was unique and amazing. Henshall’s theory also lined up with the radiocarbon dates. He suggested Scandinavian origins. This find was contemporary with the Iron Age site of Minehowe. This particular garment piece was believed to have been constructed for a child.
After Jacqui Wood’s 2001 Experimental Archaeology lecture in Orkney, she was commissioned by the council to ‘reconstruct’ this garment so that they could present it in the museum and understand better what the garment looked like. Jacqui researched the design, the weave, the dyes, fibres, and construction. Utilizing her local Wool Marketing Board Wool Sheds, she examined a large range of colors from Shetland Fleeces, and then travelled to Ediburg to study the hood in detail. She returned to Cornwall to begin the commission. She created a simple warp weighted loom with which she would do the weaving. She created a 2/2 herringbone twill weave with the loom to replicate the original cloth construction utilizing Tablet Weaving. She based hers on the tableet excavated in Denmark (1888) that dated to 200 BCE. She constructed the narrow tablet woven band on the hood using 6 tablets at 2 cm width. For the Broad Band with Fringe she utilized 50 tablets to create a maximum 6 cm. width weave mixing light and dark brown to create the striped band pattern. She then began to Assemble the hood from the three woven parts. She Finished a beautiful reconstruction of this very old Orkney garment that now sits in the museum. The reconstruction took approximately 5 1/2 months to complete from start to finish (230 hours). (see: http://www.archaeologyonline.org/Orkney%20Hood/Pictures/The%20Hood.htm for photo of the reconstruction).
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