Ozana Martinčić

By studying and analysing a great number of textile metal threads from different time periods in Croatia, from archaeological sites to preserved specimens from various museum collections, change can be seen through the centuries. Metal threads decorate textiles not only for aesthetic purposes, but also to display wealth, assert authority, and command respect. Primarily, such decorated clothing was worn for liturgical purposes, ceremonial folk customs, or to mark high military ranks. Through the characteristics of these threads, one can see the change in the customs and lives of the people who used them in different ways and for different purposes. The shine and luxury that the first gold metal threads have can be achieved with lower quality threads like silver, copper, and their alloys. As the quality of metal textile threads decreased, they became cheaper and more applicable in everyday life. The use of metal textile threads on clothing increased, and through the century, they became a clothing part for all people, not just the privileged. Analyses of metal threads were performed with scanning electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive X-ray detector (SEM-EDX) due to its sensitivity and suitability for the observation of metal threads from various textiles. The type of textile cores from the combined textile metal threads was determined through a laboratory optical microscope. Differences have been observed between archaeological and historical textile metal threads in terms of physical properties, as well as textile and metal composition. Archaeological samples are combined textile metal threads that have a metal component of gilded silver and a textile component of silk. While more recent historical samples have different types of metal threads, from individual threads of lamellae and wires to combined textile metal threads. Most samples have cotton as a textile component, while copper, alone or in alloys, predominates in the metal threads.

Najveći broj sačuvanih tekstilnih nalaza otkrivenih u srednjovjekovnimgrobovima istočnoga Jadrana i zaleđa načinjen je ukombinaciji s nitima od plemenitih metala. Takav je tekstil bioiznimno skup i dostupan samo najvišim slojevima društva. Uokviru ovoga rada navedeni su dosad otkriveni nalazi, a fokusje usmjeren na 30 ulomaka tekstila ukrašenoga tankim trakamaizrezanima iz iskucanoga lima spiralno obavijenim oko organskepređe (ili samostalnih metalnih traka koje su bile sastavnidio tekstilnoga predmeta čiji je organski dio propao) sa sedamsrednjovjekovnih groblja: Crkvina u Biskupiji, Crkvina pod Bogdanićem,Čovini-Crikvine, Dol u Bribiru kraj Skradina, Grborezi,sv. Spas na vrelu Cetine i Štale u Bribiru kraj Novoga Vinodolskog.Prikupljeni uzorci različito su datirani; najraniji primjerak iz Crkvineu Biskupiji pripada početku 9. st., a ostali nalazi datiranisu poslije, uglavnom u kasni srednji vijek. Studije uključuju primjenufizikalno-kemijskih metoda skenirajućim elektronskimmikroskopom (SEM) s detektorom X-zraka za elementnu analizu(EDS), kojima se uz mikromorfološku obradu opsežnije analizirakemijski sastav niti. Utvrđeno je da su lamele od čistoga zlatakorištene samo u najranijem srednjovjekovlju, da bi ubrzo bilezamijenjene kompozitnim, najčešće pozlaćenim srebrnim nitimaobavijenima oko organske pređe. Razvoj proizvodnje nitiod plemenitih metala za dekoraciju tekstila tekao je u smjerusmanjivanja težine, povećanja fleksibilnosti, kao i pojeftinjenjaproizvoda. Navedenim analizama dobiva se također uvid u tehnologijuizradbe dragocjene odjeće koja je inkorporirala takveniti; čak i ako su se organski dijelovi tekstila raspali, sačuvanemetalne niti, ako se pažljivo iskopaju, mogu pružiti važne podatkeo odjevnome predmetu.