Somoene asked me to translate this article
http://harpfe.weta.ws/wp-content/upload ... 0_Nutz.pdf and I thought I'd provide my translation here as well.
http://harpfe.weta.ws/wp-content/upload ... 0_Nutz.pdf
The German article is just on the bikini, not the bra. My translation of the German. From Harpfe Magazine, December 2010 (Note: the article just above this is about the general find at Lenberg)
Unmentionables:
This was an old term for underwear, especially underpants, because coming right out to say that would be immodest. But they have a long history. The Romans called them "subligar," and in the Middle Ages "brouche" (necessary), and they are generally referred to as clothing for men. Yet Roman art shows young women wearing them in bath scenes. In the Middle Ages, these had only been known from iconography, but now there is an archeological find from Tirol (a state in Austria) of a late medieval pair of underpants. The find was among a group of many other textiles, as well as leather, particularly shoes, and other organic remains, including a wooden flute, under a filled in vault in Lenberg castle in the community of Nikolsdorf in East Tirol in 2008.
The cut is a simple hourglass shape, somewhat wider in the “back” and with ties at the corners, like a modern thong (actually, although this word translates as thong, it is used to mean string bikini). It is made of linen and has three layers of fabric in the middle (my comment, one of which appears to be a patch). It could have belonged to either a man or a woman. A DNA analysis led by Master (as in, has a Masters ddegree) Dr. Walther Parson from the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Innsbruck unfortunately did not reveal any additional information.
Due to the surrounding find grouping, as well as the architectural history of the castle, (showing building over this area) in the early 15th century, a 14th century date has been confirmed (note: this seems not to match with the next sentence). The pants were in use until after 1440 and were then used as fill in construction work at the castle as refuse was used to fill an vault. This is a common practice in the Middle Ages as an easy way to dispose of waste. Once a floor was built over the vault, as happened in this castle in 1485, the waste was “out of sight, out of mind.” Refuse was also used as insolation between floors.
The find of these underpants allows archeologists to know the exact construction style, the cut, the stitching techniques and materials, which allows for recognizing details not available from iconography. This promises new insights into underwear production in the 15th century. Finally, the pants can then be reproduced so that a medieval “wear feeling” can be fully modeled.
About the author: Master Beatrix Nutz is a research colleague (fellow) at the Institute of Archeology, department of pre and early history and medieval and early-modern archeology, in the work group for clothing and textile tecnhniques.
