First Textiles - The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture in Europe and the Mediterranean
Previous CTR project
Early Bronze Age loom weights from Tiryns, Greece. Photo: Małgorzata Siennicka
Research Project 2013-2017
Directed by Małgorzata Siennicka
This project concerns the beginnings of textile manufacture, tools and techniques, with a focus on the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean. Despite our extensive knowledge about late prehistoric textile production (especially in the Middle and Late Bronze Age) supported by numerous archaeological, textual and iconographic evidence, the very beginnings of thread and fabric manufacture still need to be explored.
Methods
Application of varied interdisciplinary methods of systematic analysis of textiles, such as studies on ancient textile remains, basketry, mat and textile imprints in clay, textile tools (e.g. spindle whorls, loom weights, needles, shuttles), experiments with copies of ancient textile implements, or recently developed scientific methods of analysing textiles and recognising the provenience of animal fibres, e.g. through DNA analysis, strontium-, and isotope-tracing will offer important insights into the oldest textile techniques, their beginnings and development throughout prehistory.
One of the main objectives of our research is to review and systematize the recent achievements in the research field of the most ancient textiles and textile techniques and to set the agenda for further research.
In the project, various approaches and data will be combined: studies of actual remains of the ancient textiles, prehistoric textile implements (e.g. spindle whorls, loom weights, needles, combs), iconographic sources, impressions of textiles and mats/baskets in clay and other materials, experimental archaeology and archaeological reconstructions. More specifically, the programme will focus on the following questions:
- When were the first threads and fabrics made? What sources are available to study them?
- What were the first textile techniques and how did they change and develop during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age?
- When were the spindle whorls and loom weights invented and attested, how did they spread through distant regions and cultures and how were they used?
- What fibres were preferred during the early prehistoric periods? Which scientific and other analytic methods are available to recognise them?
- What can the first textiles or textile implements tell us about the society, household production, work organisation and specialisation, social status, gender?
- Can textile implements and techniques tell us more about the cultural changes during the prehistoric times?
Network of international researchers
The purpose of the project is to create a dynamic network of international researchers, Ph.D. students and students who wish to exchange their knowledge and present recent advances in the study of the beginnings of textile manufacture. The project will provide a platform for all members of the academic community who share an interest in archaeological textiles, ancient textile techniques and tools.
The research project will group scholars from different counties, institutions, museums, and universities. The director of the project Dr. Małgorzata Siennicka (University of Warsaw) was awarded a Marie Curie Mobility Fellowship for 2013-2017 and works as associate professor at CTR. Her research project, Greek Textile Tools. Continuity and changes in textile production in Early Bronze Age Greece, deals with textile production in the Aegean during the Early Bronze age.
Activities in 2013-2017
International workshop in Berlin
Participation in the international workshop (17-18 February 2014) The Distinction of Fibers: Methods and Approaches organized by TOPOI-Research Group ‘Textile Revolution’.
EAA Istanbul session on Textile production in Europe and the Mediterranean in the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE
A regular session, Textile production in Europe and the Mediterranean in the 4th and 3rd millennia BCE, will take place on 13. September 2014 at the conference EAA (European Association of Archaeologists) in Istanbul. The session is organized by Dr. Małgorzata Siennicka (University of Copenhagen/University of Warsaw), Dr. Lorenz Rahmstorf (University of Mainz) and Ph.D. candidate Agata Ulanowska (University of Warsaw).
The session will provide the opportunity to connect international scholars working on ancient textiles, textile tools and techniques, and will present new discoveries and data in the field, as well as discuss new approaches and perspectives. The session will also set the agenda for the First Textiles conference that is planned for spring 2015 at CTR.
Please see the preliminary programme of the session.
Conference "First Textiles" at CTR – May 7th-8th 2015
A two-day international conference "First Textiles. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture in Europe and the Mediterranean" will take place on May 7th-8th 2015 in Copenhagen.
The aim of the conference is to present and discuss the recent achievements in the research field of the most ancient textiles and textile techniques in primarily Europe and Asia in the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age (ca. 8th-3rd millennia BC); the application of varied interdisciplinary methods of systematic analysis of textiles, such as studies on the most ancient textile remains, basketry, mat and textile imprints in clay; textile tools (e.g. spindle whorls, loom weights, Spinning bowls); experiments with copies of ancient textile implements; and recently developed scientific methods of analysing textiles and recognising the provenience of fibres. These all offer important insights into the oldest textile techniques, their beginnings and development throughout prehistory.
Programme
Abstracts
General Information
Publication of the proceedings of the EAA session and First Textiles conference (2018)
The proceedings of the regular session at the conference EAA in Istanbul (September 2014) and of the conference at CTR (May 2015) were published in 2018 by Oxbow Books.
Siennicka, L. Rahmstorf, A. Ulanowska (eds), First Textiles. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture in Europe and the Mediterranean. Proceedings of the EAA Session Held in Istanbul (2014) and the ‘First Textiles’ Conference in Copenhagen (2015). Ancient Textile Series 32, Oxbow Books. Oxford & Philadelphia.
Summary:
Textile production and the manufacture of clothing was one of the most essential daily activities in prehistory. Textiles were significant objects of practical use, and at the same time had cultural, social and symbolic meaning, crucial for displaying the identity, gender, social rank and status, or wealth of their users. However, evidence of ancient clothing is scarce due to unfavourable preservation of organic materials. Only occasionally are prehistoric textiles and associated implements preserved, mainly as a result of exceptional environmental conditions, such as waterlogged contexts like bogs, or in very dry or cold climates. In other cases, textiles are sporadically mineralised, carbonised or preserved by metal corrosion.
Textiles and leather can also be visible as imprints on clay. The beginning of textile manufacture is still vague, but can be traced back to the upper Palaeolithic. Important developments in textile technology, e.g. weaving, spinning with a spindle, introduction of wool, appeared in Europe and the Mediterranean throughout the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. This book is devoted to the early textile production in Europe and the Mediterranean and aims to collect and investigate the combined evidence of textile and leather remains, tools, workplaces and textile iconography. The chapters discuss the recent achievements in the research of ancient textiles and textile production, textile techniques such as spinning, fabric and skin manufacture, use of textile tools and experimental textile archaeology. The volume explores important cultural and social aspects of textile production, and its development.