Roy Thomson & Quita Mould (ed.). Leather tanneries: the archaeological evidence.

Wills, Barbara

ROY THOMSON & QUITA MOULD (ed.). Leather tanneries: the archaeological evidence, viii+206 pages, 91 illustrations, 15 tables. 2011. London: Archetype; 978-1-904982-61-6 paperback 32.50 [pounds sterling] & $75.

How does an archaeologist recognise that they have found a tannery? What range of evidence is relevant and where might interpretations fall short? This book arose from the 2008 conference Have we got a tannery? hosted by Walsall Leather Museum and organised by the Archaeological Leather Group with the intention of summarising current understandings and questioning received views. It is argued that well-founded additional proof is required before leather fragments in a waterlogged hole may be designated a tannery. Tanning and skin-processing consist of a sequence of procedures which need to be understood. Alongside, a wide range of other specialist crafts or trades (e.g. horn-working, butchery, glue-making, tallow, wool production) may flourish; these too need to be understood in addition to their relationship with the tannery. Superficial interpretations, if published, become templates for similar sites and so become embedded, leading to confusion and conflation in the literature.

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Other themes emerge in the process: the curious absence of tanneries in some parts of the archaeological record, and the re-evaluation of tannery site reports in the light of better-substantiated and more diverse strands of evidence.

To begin with, Thomson gives a succinct explanation of skin, interwoven with its history of preservation. He reminds us that tanning can take place in containers above ground as well as in pits, and the list of tanning definitions and descriptions of skin and leather-related processes is a useful reference tool. Other chapters give further detail of tanning/tawing and related procedures so that we may better understand the evidence later presented, while the description of methods used by the Inuit, North American Indian and Finnish Sami offer insight into prehistoric practices. Ancient tools resemble those still used, and intelligent analysis of wear-marks further clarifies prehistoric preparation processes, where of course the material itself is largely missing.

At the core of the publication are the chapters that describe tannery excavations in Britain in reassuring detail based on multi-stranded evidence. Hall and Kenward specify a precise and well-researched range of associated plants and invertebrates for each process. It such indicators were more widely applied, tanneries in the archaeological record might, they suggest, be less rare. Spall too looks for multifaceted evidence to show that vellum-making took place at a unique Pictish monastery site near Inverness. Tanning operations from early Northampton, Birmingham and Bermondsey are uncovered and discussed, giving an impressive and well-illustrated breadth of comparative material that traces development and change. Having established the criteria, the intelligent re-evaluation of sites follows in several papers giving us more convincing interpretations.

In the search for what is missing, van Driel-Murray pursues the puzzlingly elusive Roman tanneries. So much excellent vegetable-tanned leather, vital for the military, requiring established production sites, used for so many purposes, and only one unambiguous tannery! The putative tanning sites are interrogated to give us classic examples which results in a convincing 'rule of three': the effective production of high-quality vegetable-tanned leather over twelve months requiring three vats or multiples thereof. Interestingly, tanning-related operations might occur in different locations, she suggests--taking the hides to the sources of bark and water rather than the reverse, for example--which might explain the absence. Anglo-Saxon tanneries are not found at all. Surviving leatherwork from the fifth to eighth centuries is rare, seen mostly as mineralised fragments or soil stains. This is sufficient, however, to verify a range of leather products and surmise skin preparation techniques. A startling absence of leather is noted by Ervynck in his survey of tanneries in Flemish archaeology. One possible explanation is that tanned leather, being a costly product, would not normally remain on site. Stevens thoughtfully examines 'waste' products such as horn cores and bones, listing their uses and value (indeed the oft-used term 'waste' seems to be a misnomer). Any excavated leather off-cuts might thus represent either a specific stage in the recycling process, or material abandoned when the tannery fell into disuse. This paper complements Mould's discussions on how to define and interpret leather off-cuts. Are these the last act of the tanner or currier or the first of the leatherworker? Above ground, Gomersall draws our attention to extant but abandoned tannery structures based on her Leeds study. Go out and record before these are lost! she exhorts.

I strongly encourage anyone involved in archaeology or interested in leather and related crafts to buy this volume, which will become a standard reference work on the subject. It is readable, and makes the processes tangible, comprehensible. The writers come from varied backgrounds: archaeologists, curators and scholars, biologists, zoologists, an anthropologist, a saddler and a tanner. The papers thus offer information from different knowledge-bases, some authors dealing with a single site or idea, some with multiple. There are none, however, without a good point to make. The excellent colour photographs of skin processing and of relevant archaeological features add value to the book. Some of the tables deal dearly with subtleties; we learn for example which indicators for a tannery are more persuasive than others. Historical data fleshes out the archaeological: the Western Tannery in Northampton show that sheep, cattle and horses were all processed on one site in evident contravention of the regulations.

Regrettably, the osteological contributions to the conference could not be published and this is a loss to the whole. In a perfectly-resourced world it would also be valuable to have more archival material supporting the information that excavation reveals. Analysis of pit deposition material such as lime, ash and organic matter is evidently worthwhile, and still to be further developed and applied. All would help the search for the tannery.

BARBARA WILLS

Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, The British Museum, London,

UK

(Email: BWILLS@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk)