Textile decoration and patterns on the Andronovo vessels: possible reconstructions

Certain researchers believe that designs composed of oblique triangles, meander-shaped figures and comb imprints on the Andronovo vessels reproduce those on woven, embroidered, and appliqué textiles. The article compares the Andronovo designs on pottery with the decoration used in textile manufacture. To reconstruct the making of geometric compositions, textile interlacing schemes were designed to produce samples using the weaving technique on plaques. Such tools had been used for producing the earliest textiles manufacture with an interwoven warp since the Early Neolithic. The sequence of patterns with vertical-horizontal, diagonal-horizontal, and diagonal-rhombic elements is described. Various types of schemes were created, and the most rational decoration methods were selected. The dependence of pattern on the sequence whereby colored threads are run through the holes was analyzed. To make complex patterns, rotation of plaque blocks in various directions was used. The results suggest that designs on the Andronovo vessels indeed reproduce woven prototypes.