An understanding of textiles and the role they played in the past is important for anyone interested in past societies. Textiles served and in fact still do as both functional and symbolic items. The evidence for ancient textiles in Europe is split quite definitely along a north-south divide, with an abundance of actual examples in the north, but precious little in the south, where indirect evidence comes from such things as vase painting and frescoes. This volume brings together these two schools to look in more detail at textiles in the ancient world, and is based on a conference held in Denmark and Sweden in March 2003. Section one, Production and Organisation takes a chronological look through more than four thousand years of history; from Syria in the mid-third millennium BC, to Seventeenth Century Germany. Section two, Crafts and Technology focuses on the relationship between the primary producer (the craftsman) and the secondary receiver (the archaeologist/conservator). The third section, Society, examines the symbolic nature of textiles, and their place within ancient societal groups. Throughout the book emphasis is placed on the universality of textiles, and the importance of information exchange between scholars from different disciplines.

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO TEXTILES: BACKGROUND, STUDIES AND APPLICATION
  • 1 Methodological Introduction
    • Notes
  • 2 The World According to Textiles
    • Introduction
    • The Construction of Knowledge
    • Experimental Archaeology
    • Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
    • Textile Archaeology and Theory
    • Mons Claudianus
    • The World According to Textiles
    • Textiles in Academia
    • Notes
  • 3 The Academic Craftsman–A Discussion on Knowledge of Craft in Textile Research
    • Notes
• PART 2 PRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
  • 4 Textile Tools and Production during the Viking Age
    • Introduction
    • The Uses of and Needs for Textiles and Raw Materials
    • Tools and Techniques
    • The Organization of Textile Manufacturing
    • The Results
    • Summary
    • Notes
  • 5 Spinning and Weaving at Tell Mardikh-Ebla (Syria): Some Observations on Spindle-Whorls and Loom-Weights from the Bronze and Iron Ages
    • Introduction
    • Spindle-whorls
    • Loom-weights
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
  • 6 Textile Industry and Minoan Palaces
    • Introduction
    • Raw Material Production and Collection
    • Raw Material Processing
    • Raw Material Distribution
    • Textile Manufacture
    • Textile Distribution and Consumption
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 7 Flax and Linen Textiles in the Mycenaean Palatial Economy
    • Designations for Flax and Linen: Metrological Problems
    • Linen Textiles in the Mycenaean Texts: Overview
    • Specialised Workers in the Linen Cloth Industry
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 8 Cloth Production in Late Bronze Age Greece: the Documentary Evidence
    • Notes
  • 9 Washing and Dyeing Installations of the Ancient Mediterranean: towards a Definition from Roman Times back to Minoan Crete
    • Introduction
    • Definition of a Working Area and Main Characteristics of Washing and Dyeing Installations
    • Towards a Model: Analyzing the Best-known Ancient Washing and Dyeing Contexts
    • Exporting the Model: Looking for Washing and Dyeing Installations on Minoan Crete
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 10 The Kingdom of Midas and Royal Cloth Production
    • Notes
  • 11 Textile Production in Proto-historic Italy: from Specialists to Workshops
    • Notes
  • 12 Textiles from the 1st Century CE in Jerusalem–a Preliminary Report
    • Introduction–the Akeldama Area
    • Reconstruction
    • Multi-disciplinary Research
    • Summary and Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 13 Artifacts Related to Preparation of Wool and Textile Processing Found Inside the Terrace Houses of Ephesus, Turkey
    • Weaving
    • Sewing and Spinning
    • Bridging Archaeological Finds and Social Life
    • Notes
  • 14 ‘Dyeing’ in Ancient Italy? Evidence for the purpurarii
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 15 Local Cloth Production in Medieval Turku, Finland
    • Introduction
    • Domestic or Professionally Produced Cloths?
    • Imported or Locally Produced Textiles?
    • Notes
  • 16 Woolen Textiles in Archaeological Finds and Descriptions in Written Sources of the 14th to 18th Centuries
    • Sites and Contexts of Finds
    • Varieties of Woven Cloth
    • Trade Names in Guild Rolls
    • Pattern Cards from the 17th and 18th Centuries
    • 18th-century Cloths and Worsteds
    • Summary and Conclusion
    • Notes
• PART 3 CRAFT AND TECHNOLOGY
  • 17 ‘Translating’ Archaeological Textiles
    • Cross-disciplinary Work on Archaeological Textiles: Archaeology and Natural Science
    • Microscopy Common in Textile Research
    • X-ray Pictures
    • Digital Cameras and Techniques
    • Cross-disciplinary Work between Archaeology and Crafts
    • Determining Original Weaving Methods and Making Reproductions for Exhibitions
    • Making Reconstructions
    • Determining Unlikely Weaving Methods
    • Determining the Purpose of Tools
    • The Demand for Further Cross-Disciplinary Work
    • Conclusion
    • Acknowledgements
    • Notes
  • 18 The Use of Wool for the Production of Strings, Ropes, Braided Mats, and Similar Fabrics
    • Ropes and Strings
    • Beds, Stools and Chairs
    • Sails(?)
    • Notes
  • 19 Under Canvas
    • Introduction
    • Medieval and Younger Sources
    • Criss-cross Patterned Sails on Picture Stones and Coins
    • Criss-cross Patterned Sails in the Mediterranean
    • Identification of Sail Remnants
    • Notes
  • 20 Similarities and Distinctions of Minoan and Mycenaean Textiles
    • Notes
  • 21 Re-considering Alum on the Linear B Tablets
    • Introduction
    • What is Alum?
    • What is Alum Used For?
    • tu-ru-pte-ri-ja on the Pylos Tablets
    • ku-pi-ri-jo and a-ta-ro
    • Where was Alum-Stone Found?
    • What was Alum Used For?
    • Notes
  • 22 Late Roman and Byzantine Linen Tunics in the Louvre Museum
    • Notes
  • 23 Looped-Pile Textiles in the Benaki Museum (Athens)
    • Comparative Study
    • Notes
  • 24 A Medieval Georgian Textile in the Benaki Museum (Athens): the Sakkos of the Antiochene Patriarch with Georgian Embroidery
    • Notes
  • 25 The Llangorse Textile: Approaches to Understanding an Early Medieval Masterpiece
    • Conservation and Recording by Louise Mumford
    • Embroidered Interpretation of Llangorse Textile, by Julie Taylor
    • Woven Interpretation of Llangorse Textile, by Heather Prosser
    • Conclusions
    • Notes
  • 26 A Study of Textile Remains from the 5th Century BC Discovered in Kalyvia, Attica
    • Archaeological Background
    • The Textile
    • The Selvedge
    • The Fibers
    • The Dyes
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
  • 27 Ancient Textile Evidence in Soil Structures at the Agora Excavations in Athens, Greece
    • 5th-Century BCE Paint Palette Cover
    • 11th-Century CE Infant Burial
    • 5th-Century BCE Pyre Deposit
    • Mycenaean Alabastron, 1400 BCE
    • Notes
• PART 4 SOCIETY
  • 28 Weaving the Social Fabric
    • Notes
  • 29 Invisible Exports in Aratta: Enmerkar and the Three Tasks
    • The Location of Aratta and the Environment of the Hilmand Basin
    • Shahr-i Sokhta Vegetable Fiber samples
    • Enmerkar’s Net
    • Notes
  • 30 Textile Production at Pseira: the Knotted Net
    • Notes
  • 31 Weaving at Akrotiri, Thera: Defining Cloth-Making Activities as Social Process in a Late Bronze Age Aegean Town
    • Notes
  • 32 Can a Textile Tradition Survive? The rebozo in a Changing Society
    • History and Shape
    • Ikat and Serpent
    • Emblem and Woman
    • Notes
  • 33 Political Affinities and Economic Fluctuations: the Evidence from Textiles
    • Introduction
    • The Site of Qasr Ibrim
    • Methodology
    • Study 1
    • Study 2
    • Study 3
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
  • 34 Clothing Patterns as Constructs of the Human Mind: Establishment and Continuity
    • Origins of Mental Constructs
    • Patterns in Cloth and Clothing
    • Example of Rectangular Cloth Piece Patterns
    • Patterns Based on Animal Skins
    • Clothing Based on Semi-circular, Square or Rectangular Patterns
    • Conclusions
    • Notes
  • 35 Picturae in textili on Shoulder Busts in Hellenistic Sicily?
    • Notes
  • 36 Spinning in the Roman World: from Everyday Craft to Metaphor of Destiny
    • Spinning between Craft and Symbolism
    • Spinning and Stratification of its Symbolism in Classical Society and Art
    • Spinning Tools in Roman Funerary Art and Rituals
    • Conclusions
    • Abbreviations
    • Notes
  • 37 Wool Work as a Gender Symbol in Ancient Rome. Roman Textiles and Ancient Sources
    • The Symbolic Role of Wool in Roman Wedding Ceremonies
    • Wool Work as a Symbol of Femininity
    • Roman State Ideology and the Value of Wool Work
    • Summary
    • Notes
  • 38 Christian Influences and Symbols of Power in Textiles from Viking Age Denmark. Christian Influence from the Continent
    • Iconographic Examples
    • Christian Influence from the East
    • Iconographic Examples
    • Literary Evidence of Christian Influence in Dress from the Viking Age
    • The Christianization of Denmark
    • Conclusion
    • Notes
• APPENDIX: FIRST AID FOR THE EXCAVATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEXTILES - Guidelines for the Excavation of Archaeological Textiles
• Use of a Digital Camera for Documentation of Textiles
• List of contributors
• General Bibliography