Interviews
Textiles Conservator - Mayans produced very fine fabrics
05 May '08
3 min read
Ordoñez pulled out about 30 plastic containers the size of a film canister, and inside each was what looked like a rock or bit of compressed mud about an inch in diameter. Within each piece were flecks of what only an expert could tell are tiny fragments of fabric.
“Sometimes you really have to use your imagination to tell that there's a textile in there,” she said.
Handling each piece very carefully so it doesn't crumble, Ordoñez uses a stereomicroscope to examine the yarn structure, the fabric structure, and the finish on each sample. She then brings the sample to the URI Sensors and Surface Technology Laboratory to use a scanning electron microscope to look in more fine detail at the plant material from which each piece of yarn was made.
“I can look at the cell structure of the yarn and compare it to reference materials to identify the kind of plant each thread is made from,” explained Ordoñez, who may spend as many as three days examining each fragment. “We've found threads made from cotton, sedge grasses, and all kinds of other plant fibers.”
After completing the analysis of the textile samples in her lab this summer, the URI professor plans to return to the Copán ruins in 2009 to examine more fragments from the woman's tomb and other sites. She said the working conditions at the site are challenging and the research facilities are primitive, but the site provides the best opportunity to learn more about the Mayan culture. She may even do a study of Mayan statuary at the site to see what she can learn from the way that sculptors represented textiles from the period.
“Sometimes you really have to use your imagination to tell that there's a textile in there,” she said.
Handling each piece very carefully so it doesn't crumble, Ordoñez uses a stereomicroscope to examine the yarn structure, the fabric structure, and the finish on each sample. She then brings the sample to the URI Sensors and Surface Technology Laboratory to use a scanning electron microscope to look in more fine detail at the plant material from which each piece of yarn was made.
“I can look at the cell structure of the yarn and compare it to reference materials to identify the kind of plant each thread is made from,” explained Ordoñez, who may spend as many as three days examining each fragment. “We've found threads made from cotton, sedge grasses, and all kinds of other plant fibers.”
After completing the analysis of the textile samples in her lab this summer, the URI professor plans to return to the Copán ruins in 2009 to examine more fragments from the woman's tomb and other sites. She said the working conditions at the site are challenging and the research facilities are primitive, but the site provides the best opportunity to learn more about the Mayan culture. She may even do a study of Mayan statuary at the site to see what she can learn from the way that sculptors represented textiles from the period.
University of Rhode Island
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