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Article

Rotting for Red: Archival, Experimental and Analytical Research on Estonian Traditions of Decomposing Alder Buckthorn Bark Before Dyeing

by
Liis Luhamaa
1,*,
Riina Rammo
1,
Debbie Bamford
2,
Ina Vanden Berghe
3,
Jonas Veenhoven
3,
Krista Wright
4 and
Riikka Räisänen
4
1
Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Estonia
2
School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
3
Textiles Lab, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage KIK-IRPA, Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
4
Faculty of Education, University of Helsinki, Siltavuorenpenger 5, P.O. Box 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Heritage 2025, 8(6), 220; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060220
Submission received: 31 March 2025 / Revised: 30 May 2025 / Accepted: 4 June 2025 / Published: 10 June 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dyes in History and Archaeology 43)
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Abstract

This article sheds light on the historical dyeing traditions of rural inhabitants of the Eastern Baltic region. The 19th- and early 20th-century Estonian archival sources mention that rotted alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus Mill.) bark was used to dye woollen yarn red. The bark was rotted by leaving it outside for weeks or months before dyeing. Although dyeing red with alder buckthorn bark by fermenting it in wood ash lye is well known, the combination of rotting the bark and using the boiling method to dye red has not been reported. Practical experiments testing shorter and longer-term rotting of alder buckthorn bark both on and under the ground were conducted. Woollen yarns were dyed with rotted bark using the boiling method and were tested for lightfastness and alkaline pH sensitivity, and analysed using HPLC-DAD. The results show that rotting alder buckthorn bark has a strong effect on the achievable colours and that woollen yarns can be dyed different shades of red. The colours were sensitive to alkaline pH and their light fastness varied from very low to good. HPLC-DAD analysis showed that the pretreatment of the bark affected not only the colour but also the dye composition of the dyed wool.
Keywords: natural dye; alder buckthorn; bark; Estonia; dyeing tradition; rotting; liquid chromatography; emodin natural dye; alder buckthorn; bark; Estonia; dyeing tradition; rotting; liquid chromatography; emodin

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MDPI and ACS Style

Luhamaa, L.; Rammo, R.; Bamford, D.; Vanden Berghe, I.; Veenhoven, J.; Wright, K.; Räisänen, R. Rotting for Red: Archival, Experimental and Analytical Research on Estonian Traditions of Decomposing Alder Buckthorn Bark Before Dyeing. Heritage 2025, 8, 220. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060220

AMA Style

Luhamaa L, Rammo R, Bamford D, Vanden Berghe I, Veenhoven J, Wright K, Räisänen R. Rotting for Red: Archival, Experimental and Analytical Research on Estonian Traditions of Decomposing Alder Buckthorn Bark Before Dyeing. Heritage. 2025; 8(6):220. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060220

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luhamaa, Liis, Riina Rammo, Debbie Bamford, Ina Vanden Berghe, Jonas Veenhoven, Krista Wright, and Riikka Räisänen. 2025. "Rotting for Red: Archival, Experimental and Analytical Research on Estonian Traditions of Decomposing Alder Buckthorn Bark Before Dyeing" Heritage 8, no. 6: 220. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060220

APA Style

Luhamaa, L., Rammo, R., Bamford, D., Vanden Berghe, I., Veenhoven, J., Wright, K., & Räisänen, R. (2025). Rotting for Red: Archival, Experimental and Analytical Research on Estonian Traditions of Decomposing Alder Buckthorn Bark Before Dyeing. Heritage, 8(6), 220. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060220

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