Lichens dyes and dyeing : a critical bibliography of the European and North American literature in a culturally marginalized field

Abstract

This thesis provides a critical survey of scholarly and popular literature on the subject of lichen dyes as an overlooked aspect of human culture and technology. My research identifies confusion and contradiction within the historical narrative and widespread disagreement among authorities in European and North American literature. The result is marginalization and trivialization of a subject whose botanical, cultural and economic history span four thousand years. My research identifies a 1st century interpretation of indigenous northern European lichen dyes as the basis for modern studies that supply archaeological evidence to support a rewriting of European dye history. The revision I propose begins here with a lexicon to confirm lichen dye names that pre-date medieval orchil by more than a millennium. Botany and etymology will clarify historiography. But the marginalization and trivialization of the past will continue unless we re-examine the culturally-enshrined model of Celtic dyeing and replace it with a new paradigm based on ethnic practise outside the cultural mainstream. Historical examples of the new model include an 18th century Canadian account of aboriginal practice in the region of Hudson's Bay. The Sami dyers of arctic Norway are a prime model of contemporaneous practice. This thesis also identifies a distinct 20th century Francophone praxis, and contemporary lichen dye research in Nova Scotia.