Summary

Hat made of hair moss, using basketry techniques, from the Roman fort at Newstead, Roxburghshire

Accession Number

X.FRA 1183

Other references

Original description

NEWSTEAD COLLECTION. Unfinished basket of hairmoss. "Rom. Fron. Post". p. 108, Pl XV. [Scran caption] This hat made from hair moss was found during excavations at the site of the Roman fort at Newstead in Roxburghshire. It is a rare survival of an object made from this plant fibre. The hat was used between 80 and 100 AD. The hat was made from hair moss using basketry techniques. Plant and animal fibres were used to produce a wide range of common products as well as cloth, although most have long rotted away. Preparing plant fibres such as hair moss involved using tools such as a wooden comb to make it even and supple. Date: Between 80 and 100 AD. Material: Plant (hair moss). Dimensions: Diameter of central plaited part: around 15 cm. Reference - Curle, J. A Roman frontier post and its people: the fort of Newstead. Glasgow: MacLehose, 1911, p 108, Pl XV.

Associated person/people (e.g. excavator/former collection)

Newstead Collection

Discovery / field collection

Date of discovery

1905

Method (e.g. excavation)

Excavated

Place (i.e. location of discovery)

Newstead, Roxburghshire, Scotland, Northern Europe

Grid reference

Not recorded

Acquisition

Acquisition date

1915

Acquisition source (i.e. name of donor)

Unknown

Acquisition source role (e.g. donor)

Not recorded

Image