Throughout history, buttons have been used as both decorative and status objects, initially serving no practical (fastening) function. Buttons were made using a range of materials, including amber, bone, horn, sheet metal, glass, porcelain, mother-of-pearl, wood, and plastic. The earliest buttons found, which date back thousands of years, basically served as ornaments on garments.

Button making at Ljubljana Castle

During archaeological research at Ljubljana Castle, a proper button making workshop was documented. It was in operation in the 19th century, during a time when the castle building had been turned into a penitentiary. The facility featuring a wooden podium and a drainage channel stood on the far south-western corner of the castle bastion, right below the present-day lookout tower. The workshop can be linked to material discovered in the surrounding area: the large number of perforated bones, discarded failed pieces, and repaired loops on bronze and silver buttons reveals a well-organised workshop. Prisoners are also believed to have worked there. A wide variety of bone buttons were manufactured, with varying numbers of holes for sewing them onto garments. The facility was pulled down during the construction works involved in the platform’s redesign around 1848.