TY - JOUR

T1 - Structuring reconstructions

T2 - recognising the advantages of interdisciplinary data in methodical research

AU - Malcolm-Davies, Jane

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - A theoretical framework for reconstruction as an integrated scholarly research method across a range of disciplines is long overdue. This paper discusses the usefulness of reconstructed textiles and dress as a template for it. It also argues that there is a need to integrate methods from the arts and humanities with analytical techniques from the natural sciences. The aim is to show how interdisciplinary research not only enriches a reconstruction but provides the mechanism through which cross-disciplinary collaboration takes place. Experimental remaking of historical textiles and dress has tended to be undertaken on an ad hoc basis. For reconstruction to be scientific, it must systematically employ soundly researched evidence from a variety of sources. The triangulation of data—well established in natural and social science—rigorously cross references primary evidence using a range of investigative methods. It produces a firm fix on the material under scrutiny and more credible results than those reliant on only one or two sources. The challenge is that different types of evidence demand specialist approaches, including quantitative and qualitative methods, which are not the traditional tools of dress history. Accurate reconstruction also demands interdisciplinary collaboration: the interrogation of fibres at the molecular level; the collection of observational data at the micro level; and the study of how garments were made and worn at the macro level. This calls for new ways of working with integrated methodologies in pragmatic multidisciplinary teams, which include experts from the humanities, sciences and craft.

AB - A theoretical framework for reconstruction as an integrated scholarly research method across a range of disciplines is long overdue. This paper discusses the usefulness of reconstructed textiles and dress as a template for it. It also argues that there is a need to integrate methods from the arts and humanities with analytical techniques from the natural sciences. The aim is to show how interdisciplinary research not only enriches a reconstruction but provides the mechanism through which cross-disciplinary collaboration takes place. Experimental remaking of historical textiles and dress has tended to be undertaken on an ad hoc basis. For reconstruction to be scientific, it must systematically employ soundly researched evidence from a variety of sources. The triangulation of data—well established in natural and social science—rigorously cross references primary evidence using a range of investigative methods. It produces a firm fix on the material under scrutiny and more credible results than those reliant on only one or two sources. The challenge is that different types of evidence demand specialist approaches, including quantitative and qualitative methods, which are not the traditional tools of dress history. Accurate reconstruction also demands interdisciplinary collaboration: the interrogation of fibres at the molecular level; the collection of observational data at the micro level; and the study of how garments were made and worn at the macro level. This calls for new ways of working with integrated methodologies in pragmatic multidisciplinary teams, which include experts from the humanities, sciences and craft.

KW - Craft

KW - Dress history

KW - Framework

KW - Interdisciplinary

KW - Reconstruction

KW - Recreation

KW - Remaking

KW - Textile history

U2 - 10.1186/s40494-023-00982-9

DO - 10.1186/s40494-023-00982-9

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85168913374

VL - 11

JO - Heritage Science

JF - Heritage Science

SN - 2050-7445

M1 - 182

ER -