evidence for V neck tunics and other querries.

[Andrew Malcolm]

Hello,

does anybody out there have any evidence for the V neck tunic that I keep seeing in the galleries of various groups world wide? The only image that I have for V neck tunic is the Gundestrup cauldron.


another item of clothing that keeps cropping up is the sleevless tunic. I have been guilty of wearing one, but is there really any evidence for these?
And one last thing.....ankle ties. I know I have asked the question before but perhaps some one has found something since. I see a lot of it in modern depictions ie illustrations, but is there any evidence?



There fore, is the V neck tunic, sleevless tunic, and ankle ties a very incorrect representation of the celt? I think so!

[Becky Watkins Tien]

I’ve been wondering the same thing about pants. All the historical representations I’ve found show everybody from Persia to Gaul wearing slender to medium pants with attached feet. I wonder if the first modern artists to create images of IA men thought (like my husband) that the slender pants looked silly, or they just didn’t have enough information, so they went with straight, loose pants bound at the ankle, thinking it was a predecessor to cross gartering.

I’ve been compiling a bit of a trouser timeline in an attempt to figure out bracae construction. I’ll post each example one at a time to avoid problems with my glitchy computer.

Cherchen, ca 1000 BCE: Straight from the waist to the ankle, not tapered. Asymmetrical. Has an ample square crotch gusset inserted diagonally. Wool felt.
Page 37-39 of: http://books.google.com/books?id=xH1agY ... t&resnum=1

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Halstatt scabbard, ca 500 BCE: Slender. Down to ankle. Attached to foot coverings. Horizontal zigzag and straight stripes.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Bactrian, ca 500 BCE: Baggy, stuffed into boots.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Medes, ca 500BCE: Medium legs. Slightly tapered from hip to ankle. Attached to foot coverings. Note that the man on the left is holding a pair of trousers

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Cappadocian, ca 500 BCE: Like the Medes. Note the bow fibulae on their cloaks.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Scythians, ca 500 BCE: Same as the Medes and Cappadocians

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Phrygian/Amazon, ca 380 BCE: Slender. Down to ankle. Horizontal zigzag stripes. Probably attached foot coverings. (There is another type of Phrygian trouser which is made completely differently. Cloth wraps around each leg and buttons up the front of each leg, leaving the crotch exposed.)

http://www.artmuseum.gov.mo/photodetail ... 01026&lc=3

and

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Qin terracotta army, 246-209 BCE: Wide legs. Slightly tapered from hip to ankle.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Persian, ca 150 BCE: Slender, tapered from hip to ankle. Probably attached foot coverings.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Gundestrup, ca 1st century BCE: (Back to Andrew's pic) Slender, ends at top of knee (feminalia). What appears to be striped or quilted cloth looks like herringbone twill when viewed closer. The main concern is the apparent lack of a crotch gusset. If the artist is accurate, then how was this garment made so that the crotch or backside didn’t rip? There is no extant evidence of curvilinear pattern pieces like we have today. Here is a reenactor pattern for loose bracae, but I don’t know how well this type of pattern would work for tighter fits.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Thorsberg, ca 4th century CE: Slender, down to ankle. Attached foot coverings. Elaborate gussets and strips to provide room around the pelvis. Beltloops. Wool diamond twill.



Using a weave like herringbone twill gives the fabric a little bit of stretch, thus allowing a tighter fit. The zigzag stripes seen in Hallstatt and Anatolia may also be a similar stretchy weave.

So if all the long trousers in Europe and Western Asia from 500 BCE to 300 CE are tapered and footed, what are you guys doing wearing pajama pants?

[Andrew Malcolm]

I have an image of a small bronze gaul lying down from Alesia. Unfortunately I can not post the picture but can email it to anybody if interested. He wears pants, close fitting, no ankle ties, and has a very chunky belt almost like a belt of thick cloth. PM me if youd like this picture, or if somebody has it then please post here.
But what of the V neck tunic? Alot of re-enactors are seen wearing these. Where is the evidence?

[Kevin Beckham]

Gundestup can not be used as a reliable source.

The silverworking techniques used in the cauldron are unknown from the Celtic world, but are consistent with the renowned Thracian sheet-silver tradition; the scenes depicted are not distinctively Thracian, but certain elements of composition, decorative motifs and illustrated items (such as the shoelaces on the "Cernunnos" figure) identify it as Thracian work (Bergquist, A. K. & Taylor, T. F. (1987) "The origin of the Gundestrup cauldron" in Antiquity Vol. 61, 1987. pp. 10-24).

Bergquist and Taylor propose manufacture by a Thracian craftsman, possibly commissioned by the Celtic Scordisci and fallen into the hands of the Cimbri who invaded the Middle lower Danube in 120 BC.

Here is an example of a non-v-neck tunic found in southern Germany...http://www.euratlas.com/Atlas/germany_r ... _celt.html

The statue seems to be weareing sandal boots that have the trousers tucked into them.

As for the ankle ties, if one wears boots, the trousers are tucked into the boot, no need for ankle ties. Another suggestion is to tie ones shoes around the ankle, this is more comfortable than having leather tied around the bare skin. Another practical reason to tie at the ankle is to prevent fleas and ticks to crawl up your legs.

[Becky Watkins Tien]

About Gundestrup, yes, it was probably crafted by a Thracian. However, I've read that many people still count the imagery as reflecting Gallic motifs. I'm not sure why the laced shoes would be particularly Thracian. That style is also seen on Persians at Persepolis and Susa ca 500 BCE and later across Europe, so it seems to have been pretty popular. Anyway, I agree that the imagery might be unreliable concerning clothing styles due to its mixed origin and its focus on religious rather than sartorial concerns. Plus, those pants just don't make sense.

I haven't found any v-neck or split-neck tunics, either. Everything I've been looking at has a loose boat neck or a curved neck.

[Andrew Malcolm]

The knee length pants as depicted on the Gundestrup cauldron can also be found with the pants from Marx Etzel.

Lets hear from some of those that wear V necks and their evidence for wearing them? As they are a very common depiction amongst re-enactors.

[J Meijer]

another item of clothing that keeps cropping up is the sleevless tunic. I have been guilty of wearing one, but is there really any evidence for these?

The socalled 'Marx-Etzel tunic'.
Sleeveless with a, if I'm correct, straight slit for the head/neck. I'm still not sure what the dating for this piece is, but if I'm not mistaken it's supposed to be (a lot) more than two thousand years old. I've read somewhere that it is 1000 - 500 b.c., but I have my doubts about that rather 'crude' dating.


Regards,
Joost

[Andrew Malcolm]

Thanks,
How silly of me, I refered the Marx Etzel shorts, but not the tunic!!!

[Becky Watkins Tien]

Yay, more info! I hadn't seen the Marx-Etzel pants before, and now I love them. The Gundestrup pants completely make sense now, with just a little artistic license. I never had a problem with the length, just the crotch. Here's a pdf that has a pattern for the Marx-Etzel pants on page 8: http://www.historiclife.com/pdf/BattleofHasting.pdf

The pants are made from one rectangular piece of fabric which wraps from front to back. Angled cuts up the legs in the front form a panel which is brought from the front, under the crotch, and up the back to give extra room in the seat. The angle of the cuts makes the fabric fit close to the thighs. The legs have to be at least long enough to make a panel long enough to wrap up to the back waistband. Of course, you could cut off extra leg length, but why bother?

[J Meijer]

In the book 'Textilfunde der Eisenzeit in Norddeutschland' are a few drawings that show the construction a little bit better. If anyone is interested in them, I could scan them in, sometime this week.


Regards,
Joost

[Andrew Malcolm]

Please do :)

[Magalí de la Reina]

In the book 'Textilfunde der Eisenzeit in Norddeutschland' are a few drawings that show the construction a little bit better. If anyone is interested in them, I could scan them in, sometime this week.


Regards,
Joost

And if someone needs a translation of the explanations to the drawings from German to English, let me know..... :)

[Bob Roeder]

With regard to trousers: Here is a link to the German Hosiery Museum:

http://www.german-hosiery-museum.de/geschichte/geschichte_01.html

If you just find the museum website Room 1 deals with early periods, though it does focus on German(ic) examples.

Andrew, with regard to sleevless tunics - I know that I saw a Roman sculptural representation of either a "German" or Dacian wearing a sleevless tunic; possibly Trajan's column, I'll remember sooner or later. I doubt this supports the notion of sleeveless tunics for "Celts" but it does show they existed somewhere.

Bob Roeder

[Alex Hovorka]

It seems logical to me that celts in hotter climates like Spain and lower France would just take off the sleaves of their tunics for particularly hot seasons. Though I have absolutely no evidence to back that.

[G-Gulino]

also in ireland while not have much evidence from pre christian times in way of clothing, it seems to be they wore the knee length pants aswell as tight full length with either feet in them as seen above or a simple strap under the foot.