Proceedings of the AICCM TSIG Symposium, Sydney, Australia 19 to 22 May, 2016
ABSTRACT
In an Australian context, historical archaeological textiles are rare, and potentially significant finds. In 2015 during an historic archaeological excavation in Melbourne’s CBD, archaeologists unearthed a bundle of fabric and thread from an unlined rubbish pit that, when examined by conservators, was found to be pieces of what was once was a frock coat or jacketdatingtoc1870. Thispaperwilldiscussthediscovery,conservationtreatmentandsubsequentanalysisofthis archaeological textile. The discovery of the textile, and the story of its conservation and analysis, provide a rare insight into the manufacture of mid to late nineteenth century clothing and is highly evocative of Melbourne’s urban past.
KEYWORDS: Textile archaeology, scientific analysis, conservation, wool