History of Textiles

Color and Personality: Dorothy Liebes and American Design

by Alexa Griffith Winton

Stoff und Staat – Überlegungen zur Interaktion von Textilökonomie und römischer Staatlichkeit im 1.–3. Jh. n.Chr. (engl.: Textiles and the State: Considerations on the Interaction between Textile Industries and Roman Statehood), in: S. Günther (ed.), Ordnungsrahmen antiker Ökonomien. Ordnungskonzepte und Steuerungsmechanismen antiker Wirtschaftssysteme im Vergleich, Wiesbaden 2012 (Philippika 53), 215-226.

by Kerstin Droß-Krüpe

From the Parochial to the Universal: Comparing Cloth Cultures in the Bronze Age.

by Susanna Harris

Published in the European Journal of Archaeology 15 (1) 2012, 61–97

The aim of this research is to compare the cloth cultures of Europe and Egypt in the Bronze Age and New Kingdom. The... more The aim of this research is to compare the cloth cultures of Europe and Egypt in the Bronze Age and New Kingdom. The comparison focuses on the fourteenth century cal BC and includes four geographically separate areas, including the oak coffin burials of southern Scandinavia, the Hallstatt salt mines of central Europe, Late Minoan Crete, and the tombs and towns of the later Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. The comparative approach can bring insights even when applied to unconnected cultures or regions. However, in this study I concentrate on a restricted chronological period and areas that were connected, directly or indirectly, by widespread networks of trade or exchange. The concept of cloth cultures is used to include both textiles and animal skins as these were closely related materials in the prehistoric past. Information was gathered according to the following categories: raw materials, including textile fibre, and species of skins; fabric structure and thread count (only for textiles); decoration and finish; and use and context. From this study, it is possible to recognize the universally shared principles of cloth cultures and the great versatility and creativity in the regional cloth cultures of the Bronze Age.

Classical and Hellenistic textile production at Euesperides (Benghazi, Libya): preliminary results

by Andrew Wilson

Tébar Megías, E. and Wilson, A. I. (2008) ‘Classical and Hellenistic textile production at Euesperides (Benghazi, Libya): preliminary results’, in C. Alfaro and L. Karali (eds), Purpureae Vestes, II: Vestidos, Textiles y Tintes. Estudios sobre la produccin de bienes de consumo en la antigüedad. Actas del II symposium internacional sobre textiles y tintes del Mediterraneo en el mundo antiguo (Atenas, 24 al 26 de noviembre, 2005). Valencia: 49-59.

Celtic Clothing During the Iron Age- A Very Broad and Generic Approach

by heather smith

Draft copy

While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we... more While few archaeological finds remain concerning dress during the Iron Age of the Celtic Tribes in Europe, if we consider historical commentary, Celtic art, oral traditions and archaeological data together we can amass a generic idea what might have been available and worn by them. This broad approach to dress is not with out bias however and it must be noted that regional differences must have existed. The document tries to amass not just the generic view of dress but also emphasizes the issues of lack of evidence and culture and region differences that impact this information.

Fragments of the So-Called Marwan Tiraz

by Mariam Rosser-Owen

Catalogue entry no.173, co-authored with Mina Moraitou and Ana Cabrera, in the catalogue 'Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition', edited by Helen C. Evans with Brandie Ratliff (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, distributed by Yale University Press, 2012), pp. 238-241

Ein bemerkenswerter Textilfund vom Friedhof der St. Nicolai Kirche in Lemgo - A remarkable textile Fund from the cemetery of St. Nicholas in Lemgo

by Guido Nockemann

published in: Archäologie in Westfalen-Lippe 2010, 189-192

Ein bemerkenswerter Textilfund vom Friedhof der St. Nicolai Kirche in Lemgo - A remarkable textile Fund from the... more Ein bemerkenswerter Textilfund vom Friedhof der St. Nicolai Kirche in Lemgo - A remarkable textile Fund from the cemetery of St. Nicholas in Lemgo

Brandenburgh, C.R., 2010, Early medieval textile remains from settlements in the Netherlands. An evaluation of textile production, Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 2.1, 41-78.

by Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries

Many fragments of archaeological textiles have been found in the Netherlands during the last century. This article... more Many fragments of archaeological textiles have been found in the Netherlands during the last century. This article focuses on the way these textiles were made and used. How and where were textiles and clothes made and by whom? Was cloth production already a practice of specialists, acting in an extensive trade network, or was it a craft that mainly took place at the household level?
To answer these questions 440 fragments of 265 different textiles, from 31 sites have been examined. Without exception these textiles were discovered in settlement context, mostly in the north of the country. The analysis of the remnants has resulted in the distinction of the different steps in the production process and insight in the way the textile products were used. The results show that many textiles are likely to have been produced at a household level. Only in a few cases were they made using special skills and tools or did the production
process require much time. Some products, such as the finer fabrics, the fine needlework on several hats, fabrics with a raised nap, piled weaves and a veil-like garment, may be considered as the work of textile specialists. In this article it is argued that these specialists were either working for a patron or in
an independent workshop.

Inner worlds and the event of a thread in Isluga, northern Chile

by Penny Dransart

Dransart, Penny 1995 Inner worlds and the event of a thread in Isluga, northern Chile. In P. Dransart (ed.) Andean art: visual expression and its relation to Andean beliefs and values: 228-242. Aldershot: Avebury.

Les textiles à Ougarit : perspectives de la recherche

by Juan-Pablo Vita

Co-authored with Valérie Matoïan.
Ugarit-Forschungen 41 (2009), 469-504.

Textile Traditions Of India Contemporary Perspective

by Parul Bhatnagar

Lady Irwin College,Sanjam Randawa conference, Dept, of Textile and Clothing, Delhi, 7th-8th February 2003

Kleidung (zusammen mit Nina Marschler und Michael Wagner).

by Kathrin Schäfer

In: Hauke Kenzler/Ingolf Erics-son (Hrsg.), Rückspiegel. Archäologie des Alltags in Mittelalter und früher Neuzeit. Bamberg 2006, S. 140–148.

Kleiner Artikel zur Kleidung und deren Herstellung im Mittelalter im Katalog zur Ausstellung "Rückspiegel -... more Kleiner Artikel zur Kleidung und deren Herstellung im Mittelalter im Katalog zur Ausstellung "Rückspiegel - Archäologie des Alltags" des Lehrstuhls für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit und des Historischen Museums Bamberg

Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandinavian peat bog textiles

by Margarita Gleba

With Ina Vanden Berghe and Ulla Mannering, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 1910-1921

A large systematic dye investigation of prehistoric Danish and Norwegian bog textiles was carried out using high... more A large systematic dye investigation of prehistoric Danish and Norwegian bog textiles was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detection. After the selection of the most suitable protocol for dye extraction and HPLC analysis for this specific group of archaeological samples, the second part included the characterisation of the dyes detected in the whole series of the Early Iron Age textiles and the interpretation of the dyeing technology. Natural organic dyes were found from the three main categories of natural dyes, hence throwing new light on the use of biological dye sources in Early Iron Age Scandinavia. The results clearly indicate that most Scandinavian peat bog textiles originally were dyed and that already during the 1st millennium BC, the populations in Scandinavia were familiar with the dyeing technology.

The Huldremose Iron Age textiles, Denmark: an attempt to define their provenance applying the Strontium isotope system

by Margarita Gleba

With K. M. Frei, I. Skals, H. Lyngstrøm, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 1965-1971

Archaeological textiles recovered on two occasions from the Huldremose bog, Denmark, represent some of the best... more Archaeological textiles recovered on two occasions from the Huldremose bog, Denmark, represent some of the best preserved and complete garments from the Danish Iron Age (500 BC–AD 800). In order to address the question regarding the provenance of the textile's raw material, we applied a recently developed method based on strontium isotopes to wool and plant fibres from these ancient garments. Textile plant fibres from Huldremose I find are of non-local provenance, whereas the wool from which the garment was made stemmed from sheep grazing on glaciomoraine soils developed on Cretaceous–Tertiary carbonate platform sediments widely found in Denmark. The Huldremose II find consists of an unusually large and well preserved garment, which is composed of wool from at least three different provenances. One source is again local, whereas the other two sources, characterized by elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios, are compatible with geologically older (Precambrian) terrains which are typical for Northern Scandinavia, e.g. Norway or Sweden. Our study suggests that wool and plant fibres were either traded or brought as raw materials for textiles more commonly and over longer distances than previously assumed.

Textile templates for ceramic crucibles in early Islamic Akhsiket, Uzbekistan

by Margarita Gleba

Co-authored with Rahil Alipour and Thilo Rehren
Archaeological Textiles Newsletter 53 (2011)

Macro-scale analysis of Material culture in their landscapes: case-studies in ‘invisible flows’

by Toby C. Wilkinson

T. C. Wilkinson (in press) Macro-scale analysis of Material culture in their landscapes: case-studies in ‘invisible flows’. in Proceedings of the 7ICAANE. [Full reference not yet available].

A long tradition of research suggests that during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, both urban and non-urban societies of... more A long tradition of research suggests that during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, both urban and non-urban societies of south-west Asia and wider Afro-Eurasia, became progressively more interconnected. Whilst recovered texts hint at considerable multi-directional flows of materials, including precious stones, organic material, metals and textiles, the archaeologically representative evidence for these same materials is often very difficult to find or completely invisible. This paper explores how a selection of such invisible flows of materials and ideas might be integrated into our analysis of landscape and society, through the visualization of geospatial data with modern GIS mapping and analysis. The archaeological case studies will focus on proxy evidence from eastern Anatolia and western Central Asia and the routes of interaction within and beyond these regions, to make sense of these difficult- to-study materials. The results show that the physical exchange routes along which such connections were made appear to pre-figure parts of the later historical Silk Road.

APEC “Silly Shirts” – Inappropriate or Awesome?

by Tove Hermanson

published December 13, 2011

I read with some interest the Times article Obama Says Forum’s Costume Photo Is Unnecessary. This refers to the... more I read with some interest the Times article Obama Says Forum’s Costume Photo Is Unnecessary. This refers to the tradition of the 21 members of the annual APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum participating in what has unfortunately been dubbed “the silly shirts photo.” Past photo-ops “have included ponchos and what looked like gowns for pregnant bridesmaids,” Jackie Calmes wrote. Frankly, I’m surprised by Calmes’ snarkiness.

At the first meeting in Seattle in 1993, then-President Bill Clinton outfitted the leaders in leather bombardier flight jackets. This fun photo-op idea subsequently became a tradition to don the national dress of APEC’s revolving host country; leaders wore the outfits for the photo and the rest of the day.  Let’s take a look at past ensembles and judge for ourselves, shall we?

I3-kal-la, scribe of (wool) textiles and lynen

by Gabriella Spada

Co-authored with Lorenzo Verderame
From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD: The Present and Future of Neo-Sumerian Studies, Madrid, CCHS-CSIC, 22-24 July 2010

I3-kal-la, scribe of (wool) textiles and lynen

by Lorenzo Verderame

(con G. Spada), in stampa negli atti del convegno From the 21st Century BC to the 21st Century AD: The Present and Future of Neo-Sumerian Studies, Madrid, CCHS-CSIC, 22-24 Luglio 2010

KEYWORDS: Ur III; administrative texts; textiles; Umma; cuneiform; Sumerian KEYWORDS: Ur III; administrative texts; textiles; Umma; cuneiform; Sumerian

‘í litklæðum’ – Coloured Clothes in Medieval Scandinavian Literature and Archaeology

by Thor Ewing

published in Pre-print Papers of the Thirteenth International Saga Conference

Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and... more Sagas draw our attention to colour in clothes, and coloured clothing is also mentioned in poetry. From sagas and poetry, it would appear that coloured clothing is noteworthy in itself; it is usually blue, but red is more imposing, and most impressive of all is red scarlet. Undyed clothing is also mentioned, often as the dress of slaves, but it can be worn even by kings. White clothing appears to symbolise piety.

To what extent is this picture supported by archaeology? Finds from medieval Greenland suggest that dyed cloth might indeed have been a rarity in the saga age, but interestingly the picture changes slightly when we look back to Viking times. This would appear to point to increasing isolation of the Atlantic settlements in the second millennium. Nonetheless, dyes are best represented on the best cloths of Viking Scandinavia, such as fine tabbies, Birka-type twills and pile woven cloaks.

Chemical analysis of excavated Scandinavian textiles by Penelope Walton Rogers has confirmed a remarkable predilection for blue clothing among Vikings. Red clothing is limited to high status contexts. 'Red scarlet' refers to a type of luxury cloth that was unknown in the Viking Age; however, the dye that was used to produce it (kermes) has been found on Viking silks. White clothing appears to have been popular not only with the pious but with the ungodly too, though its religious significance was important from the Conversion. The archaeology of dyestuffs reflects a similar pattern to that of dyed clothing.

In the light of this, I argue that blue clothes occur in the sagas simply as best clothes, and the colour does not in itself have any special symbolic meaning when it is worn before a killing. I also consider how red clothes are used as a status marker in sagas and poetry.

As well as a general analysis, I look in more detail at some specific instances of coloured clothes in poetry, such as Atlakviða's 'serki valrauða ' (st. 4), Sigurðarkviða inn skamma's 'valaript vel fáð' (st. 66) and Rígsþula's 'serk bláfáan' (st. 29). I also consider literary and archaeological evidence for coloured clothes in other Viking-age societies, and find that the colour of Viking dress was distinctive, and was recognised as characteristically Scandinavian.