Abstract Copper mineralized plant fibre cordage ( c . 1500) found at an archaeological site was used to study fibre microstructural degradation in response to a specific burial environment and the preservation of textiles through mineralization. The process of cellulose fibre mineralization was simulated in the laboratory in an effort to prepare mineralized plant fibres under known conditions. A model for dyeing cellulosic fibres was adopted to explain the process of fibre mineralization. The characteristics of the microstructures of archaeological and laboratory mineralized fibres were examined and compared with those of modern Indian hemp fibres using scanning electron microspectroscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM and EDS results reveal some similarities between the archaeological and the laboratory mineralized fibres. Infilling and replacement with copper minerals resulting from the corrosion of associated metals was found on both fibre outer and inner (lumen) surfaces. Possible types of fibre degradation were inferred from the observed physical and chemical microstructures of the mineralized fibres. The simulation of fibre mineralization in the laboratory sheds some light on the study of mechanisms of fibre mineralization in the preservation of archaeological textiles through the replacement with inorganic minerals.