linen or wool more common?

[richsc]

Generally our reenactment group uses linen for most clothing. But there was some question of which was actually more common, wool or linen, in general use in the Roman world. I have been looking for some sources on that, if anyone could point me. <p>Legio XX<br>
Caupona Asellinae</p><i></i>

[venicone]

Hi Rich<br>
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Vindolanda Textiles - mainly wool see:<br>
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[url=http://www.textiles.umist.ac.uk/textiles/research/Archeology/archaeology.htm" target="top]Research on Vindolanda Textiles [/url]<br>
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from The Quseir al-Qadim Project - Southern Egypt - a mixture<br>
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[url=http://www.arch.soton.ac.uk/Research/QuseirDev/getpage.asp?PageID=70&Style=Default" target="top]Report 2000 - The Textiles [/url] <p><img src="http://www.ttforumfriends.com/images/forum/co.gif"/><br>
<br>
<br>
<span style="color:red;"><strong>[url=http://pub55.ezboard.com/btalkinghistory" target="top]Talking History Forum[/url]</strong></span></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

A very, very good question. I favour wool all the way for my own clothing, and am slowly building up a decent wardrobe of 100% woolen items.<br>
The trouble with linen is that it simply doesnt survive as well as wool in waterlogged contexts, so you get a absence of evidence vs evidence of absence question. As you probably know, linen is also a damn site harder to dye than wool, and generally when it is found, it nearly always seems to be undyed or bleached.<br>
Also consider more leather clothing, (nothing personal, mind!!) as there is a great deal of evidence for the use of waterproof leather garments in the Roman period, which we often tend to neglect. <p></p><i></i>

[richsc]

Yes, linen needs a 'mordant' to make the dye adhere, though in my books on using natural dyes, even wool works better. This is probably because the natural dyes are pretty weak and need the assistance. If my dog hadn't eaten all my madder root I'd have tried it by now. <p>Legio XX<br>
Caupona Asellinae</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

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What shade of red is it now??!! <p></p><i></i>