Małgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf
I advice the researchers at international level and coordinate a MSCA Booster project at the University of Kassel.
I received a PhD in the Aegean Archaeology from the University of Warsaw (2010). I held a Marie Sklodowska-Curie IF at the Unversity of Copenhagen (2013-2017) and was an associate at an ERC CoG project at the University of Göttingen (2017-2020).
* since 2023-- University of Kassel, Research and Postgraduate Support Office
* Completed: 2017-2020 Postdoc in an ERC Rresearch project WEIGHTANDVALUE
ERC-2014-CoG 'WEIGHTANDVALUE: Weight metrology and its economic and social impact on Bronze Age Europe, West and South Asia' [Grant no. 648055]
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/572018.html
* Completed: Research project at Centre for Textile Research, SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen (2013-2017): GREEK TEXTILE TOOLS. Continuity and changes in textile production in Early Bronze Age Greece. Marie Curie Fellowship (08.2013-08.2015) FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF
http://ctr.hum.ku.dk/marie-sklodowska-curie-projects/previous-marie-sklodowska-curie-projects/greek_textile_tools/
* Completed: Research project FIRST TEXTILES. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture in Europe and the Mediterranean
https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/first-textiles/
Address: Mönchebergstr. 19
34109 Kassel
I received a PhD in the Aegean Archaeology from the University of Warsaw (2010). I held a Marie Sklodowska-Curie IF at the Unversity of Copenhagen (2013-2017) and was an associate at an ERC CoG project at the University of Göttingen (2017-2020).
* since 2023-- University of Kassel, Research and Postgraduate Support Office
* Completed: 2017-2020 Postdoc in an ERC Rresearch project WEIGHTANDVALUE
ERC-2014-CoG 'WEIGHTANDVALUE: Weight metrology and its economic and social impact on Bronze Age Europe, West and South Asia' [Grant no. 648055]
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/572018.html
* Completed: Research project at Centre for Textile Research, SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen (2013-2017): GREEK TEXTILE TOOLS. Continuity and changes in textile production in Early Bronze Age Greece. Marie Curie Fellowship (08.2013-08.2015) FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF
http://ctr.hum.ku.dk/marie-sklodowska-curie-projects/previous-marie-sklodowska-curie-projects/greek_textile_tools/
* Completed: Research project FIRST TEXTILES. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture in Europe and the Mediterranean
https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/first-textiles/
Address: Mönchebergstr. 19
34109 Kassel
less
Related Authors
Interests
Uploads
Host information by Małgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf
+++ Applications should preferably tie in with the University’s two Core Research Areas, i.e. Multifunctional Matter and Multiscale Systems, and Sustainable Transformations: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/25564.
+++ Please get in touch with researchers who could supervise your project. Search for potential supervisors in the University's departments and insitutes: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/university/organisation/departments-and-institutes.
+++ The University of Kassel offers the best conditions for innovative and interdisciplinary research due to its broad range of subjects. Accordingly, in the university's two profile-forming research focal points, outstandingly qualified scientists work together on topics that are significant across disciplines in the medium and long term. Thanks to the superbly established interdisciplinary research climate at the University of Kassel, both core research areas contribute to finding multi-layered solutions for urgent future issues. Find out more: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/university/university-of-kassel-as-an-employer/who-we-are-what-we-stand-for.
+++ The Research and Graduate Funding Office (https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/forschung/forschungs-und-graduiertenfoerderung/forschungsfoerderung) will guide you through the MSCA PF application process.
+++ We will be happy to answer your questions regarding the eligibility for funding, advise you on your project idea, read your proposal draft (sent to us before 30.05.2024), provide feedback on the structure and evaluation criteria, and help you complete the required documents.
+++ Application procedure: contact potential supervisors at the University of Kassel to discuss your research project idea, and send your express of interest to Dr Malgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf ([email protected]) until 30.05.2024 at the latest.
Books , edited books and volumes by Małgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf
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.
Papers by Małgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf
as well as textile tools made of various materials, particularly clay, stone and bone. From Early Bronze Age (EBA)
Greece (the 3rd millennium BC), almost no actual fabrics have been preserved, thus textile research can only investigate the numerous implements used in their production which were primarily found in the settlements. The aim
of this paper is to discuss craftsmanship in EBA Greece. New insights regarding textile tools, yarn manufacture
and weaving, and the organisation of production will be presented. The textile implements commonly preserved
display various qualities and methods of production, from ‘home-made’ to standardised. Therefore, it seems that in
some cases they may have been made by professional craftspeople and widely distributed, while in other cases they
were made instead for private use. By analysing the archaeological contexts of such finds (especially clay spindle
whorls and loom-weights), it is to a certain extent possible to reconstruct patterns in their use, for example regarding the working areas and the organisation of textile manufacture. There is no reliable evidence for specialised
textile workshops in this period and a household-based production or individual/home industry is more probable.
On account of the wide range of types and dimensions of spindle whorls and loom-weights, it can be assumed that
textile craftspeople developed specialised skills in the manufacturing of yarns of various thicknesses and quality and
textiles of diverse quality, patterns and weaves, according to their needs or the requirements of the market, whether
it was local or part of wider trade routes.
Keywords: Aegean; Early Bronze Age; textile production; textile workers; textile tools; craftsmanship
specialisation, ritual production and attached palace controlled production. It is suggested that some modes of textile production may have co-existed throughout different phases of the Bronze Age in the Aegean. They reflect different paths of development of textile economics depending on the social and economic situations of the producers and their relationship to local elites and palatial administration.
Textile production has been a key craft in societies of the past in Europe and the Mediterranean. Continually increasing interest in textile studies has focused on scientific examination of archaeological and historical textiles and fibres, tools and working places, written sources and iconography, as well as on experimental approaches to textile technology. Due to these multidisciplinary studies, the elaborated technology and great social, cultural and economic significance of textile production has fully been recognised and systematically examined. Additionally, the enhanced knowledge about past societies that manufactured and consumed textiles on both a regular, daily basis, and on special occasions, in various historical and functional contexts, opens new avenues of textile research. These studies have developed into new directions and, among other things, aim to explore multifarious questions regarding the organisation and dynamics of textile manufacture. It has become even more apparent that textile craft was multifaceted, constantly transforming, and dynamically responding to diverse cultural, social and economic processes occurring within past societies.
<<This book is one of the results of the collaborative research
project ‘First Textiles. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture
in Europe and the Mediterranean’, implemented in 2013–
2017 at the University of Copenhagen. The project was
designed to elucidate the beginnings of textile manufacture,
tools and techniques in the Epipalaeolithic, Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean. Its
aim was to bring together scholars who work on actual
remains of prehistoric fabrics, undertake scientific analyses,
deal with textile technologies and implements, study
archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological material, and focus
on ethnographic evidence and experimental approach to
textile studies. We sought to discuss latest advances in the
methodologies, technologies, material and scientific studies,
as well as recent archaeological finds associated with the
earliest textiles.
The main activities of the project consisted of the
organisation of two international scientific meetings and the
subsequent publication of their proceedings, incorporated in
the present volume.>>
Deux fragments d’argile recueillis par Deshayes lors de la fouille de la tombe à chambre
XXI ont fait l’objet d’un examen macro- et microscopique au musée d’Argos. Les deux
fragments, qui pourraient appartenir à un même objet brisé, sont en
argile crue ou en terre bien battue ; ils portent tous deux l’empreinte d’un tissu, ce qui est
très rare dans les contextes funéraires ou domestiques du Bronze Récent de Grèce.
+++ Applications should preferably tie in with the University’s two Core Research Areas, i.e. Multifunctional Matter and Multiscale Systems, and Sustainable Transformations: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/25564.
+++ Please get in touch with researchers who could supervise your project. Search for potential supervisors in the University's departments and insitutes: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/university/organisation/departments-and-institutes.
+++ The University of Kassel offers the best conditions for innovative and interdisciplinary research due to its broad range of subjects. Accordingly, in the university's two profile-forming research focal points, outstandingly qualified scientists work together on topics that are significant across disciplines in the medium and long term. Thanks to the superbly established interdisciplinary research climate at the University of Kassel, both core research areas contribute to finding multi-layered solutions for urgent future issues. Find out more: https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/en/university/university-of-kassel-as-an-employer/who-we-are-what-we-stand-for.
+++ The Research and Graduate Funding Office (https://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/forschung/forschungs-und-graduiertenfoerderung/forschungsfoerderung) will guide you through the MSCA PF application process.
+++ We will be happy to answer your questions regarding the eligibility for funding, advise you on your project idea, read your proposal draft (sent to us before 30.05.2024), provide feedback on the structure and evaluation criteria, and help you complete the required documents.
+++ Application procedure: contact potential supervisors at the University of Kassel to discuss your research project idea, and send your express of interest to Dr Malgorzata Siennicka-Rahmstorf ([email protected]) until 30.05.2024 at the latest.
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.
as well as textile tools made of various materials, particularly clay, stone and bone. From Early Bronze Age (EBA)
Greece (the 3rd millennium BC), almost no actual fabrics have been preserved, thus textile research can only investigate the numerous implements used in their production which were primarily found in the settlements. The aim
of this paper is to discuss craftsmanship in EBA Greece. New insights regarding textile tools, yarn manufacture
and weaving, and the organisation of production will be presented. The textile implements commonly preserved
display various qualities and methods of production, from ‘home-made’ to standardised. Therefore, it seems that in
some cases they may have been made by professional craftspeople and widely distributed, while in other cases they
were made instead for private use. By analysing the archaeological contexts of such finds (especially clay spindle
whorls and loom-weights), it is to a certain extent possible to reconstruct patterns in their use, for example regarding the working areas and the organisation of textile manufacture. There is no reliable evidence for specialised
textile workshops in this period and a household-based production or individual/home industry is more probable.
On account of the wide range of types and dimensions of spindle whorls and loom-weights, it can be assumed that
textile craftspeople developed specialised skills in the manufacturing of yarns of various thicknesses and quality and
textiles of diverse quality, patterns and weaves, according to their needs or the requirements of the market, whether
it was local or part of wider trade routes.
Keywords: Aegean; Early Bronze Age; textile production; textile workers; textile tools; craftsmanship
specialisation, ritual production and attached palace controlled production. It is suggested that some modes of textile production may have co-existed throughout different phases of the Bronze Age in the Aegean. They reflect different paths of development of textile economics depending on the social and economic situations of the producers and their relationship to local elites and palatial administration.
Textile production has been a key craft in societies of the past in Europe and the Mediterranean. Continually increasing interest in textile studies has focused on scientific examination of archaeological and historical textiles and fibres, tools and working places, written sources and iconography, as well as on experimental approaches to textile technology. Due to these multidisciplinary studies, the elaborated technology and great social, cultural and economic significance of textile production has fully been recognised and systematically examined. Additionally, the enhanced knowledge about past societies that manufactured and consumed textiles on both a regular, daily basis, and on special occasions, in various historical and functional contexts, opens new avenues of textile research. These studies have developed into new directions and, among other things, aim to explore multifarious questions regarding the organisation and dynamics of textile manufacture. It has become even more apparent that textile craft was multifaceted, constantly transforming, and dynamically responding to diverse cultural, social and economic processes occurring within past societies.
<<This book is one of the results of the collaborative research
project ‘First Textiles. The Beginnings of Textile Manufacture
in Europe and the Mediterranean’, implemented in 2013–
2017 at the University of Copenhagen. The project was
designed to elucidate the beginnings of textile manufacture,
tools and techniques in the Epipalaeolithic, Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean. Its
aim was to bring together scholars who work on actual
remains of prehistoric fabrics, undertake scientific analyses,
deal with textile technologies and implements, study
archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological material, and focus
on ethnographic evidence and experimental approach to
textile studies. We sought to discuss latest advances in the
methodologies, technologies, material and scientific studies,
as well as recent archaeological finds associated with the
earliest textiles.
The main activities of the project consisted of the
organisation of two international scientific meetings and the
subsequent publication of their proceedings, incorporated in
the present volume.>>
Deux fragments d’argile recueillis par Deshayes lors de la fouille de la tombe à chambre
XXI ont fait l’objet d’un examen macro- et microscopique au musée d’Argos. Les deux
fragments, qui pourraient appartenir à un même objet brisé, sont en
argile crue ou en terre bien battue ; ils portent tous deux l’empreinte d’un tissu, ce qui est
très rare dans les contextes funéraires ou domestiques du Bronze Récent de Grèce.
fibres, could now be woven on looms, and therefore produced on a large scale, both for private purpose, and for exchange or redistribution by political and economic centres. The new fabrics must have been attractive as they were warm, soft, fine, dense, and water-resistant, and they
could be dyed in a range of colours and hues. All this may have changed fashion, while textiles and textile production gained new social and economic significance. The great economic role of textile production in the Aegean can be studied through much later, Late Bronze Age (Mycenaean) Linear B texts, and we could assume that its beginnings took place already in the Early Bronze Age. Various sources are studied in order to better understand innovations, changes, and developments of textile production in its early stages. In case of the Early Bronze Age Aegean, where practically no archaeological textiles have been preserved, we can only focus on plentiful textile tools, and refer to archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains, in order to discuss the issue of wool introduction.
The spread of this innovation must have been a process, which took a fair amount of time. The question arises
how far these changes can be traced through modification of textile tools, particularly of spindle whorls, as we
know that wool requires dierent types of spinning tools than flax. The paper also discusses who made textiles in
this period and where, and what social meaning textile production may have had.
edited by Eva Andersson Strand and Marie-Louise Nosch.
(Ancient textiles series; vol. 21)
Because of the considerable intensification of copper production and export during the Late Cypriote period, external contacts of
the island has greatly increased and it transformed into the important trade partner of Egypt, Levant, Anatolia and the Aegean. As
active participants in the international trade, especially in export of copper, the merchants from Cyprus have most probably adapted
existing metrological systems from other areas. Balance weights came to light at numerous Late Bronze Age sites on Cyprus in
various contexts: in settlements (e.g. Hala sultan Tekke; Apliki-Karamallos), in graves (e.g. Hala Sultan Tekke; Ayia Irini-Paleokastro;
Paleokastro by Ayia Irini) and in hoards (e.g. Kalavassos-Ayios Dhimitrios; Enkomi; Pyla-Kokkinokremos). The primary aim of this paper
is to review the weighing equipment (balance weights and scales), as well as metrological systems used on Cyprus in the Late the
Bronze Age. It seems that only Egyptian and Near Eastern metrological systems were adapted, while the Aegean system was not
applied. It is striking because of wide trade and social contacts with the Aegean which existed already for many centuries and became
particularly intensive in the Late Bronze Age. In addition, a relationship between metal production and weighing utensils, both
canonical and uncanonical weights (potential stone weights) will be investigated.
later 2nd millennium BCE it became a significant trade spot in the maritime networks of the East Mediterranean. Because of the
considerable intensification of copper production and export during the Late Cypriote period, the island greatly increased its external
contacts and transformed into the important trade partner of Egypt, Levant, Anatolia and the Aegean. As active participants
in international trade, especially in the export of copper, the merchants from Cyprus most probably adapted existing metrological
systems from other areas. Balance weights have come to light at numerous Late Bronze Age sites on Cyprus in various contexts: in
settlements (e.g. Hala Sultan Tekke; Apliki-Karamallos), in graves (e.g. Hala Sultan Tekke; Ayia Irini-Paleokastro; Paleokastro by Ayia
Irini) and in hoards (e.g. Kalavassos-Ayios Dhimitrios; Enkomi; Pyla-Kokkinokremos). The primary aim of this paper is to review the
weighing equipment (balance weights and scales), as well as metrological systems used on Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age. It seems
that only Egyptian and Near Eastern metrological systems were adapted, while the Aegean system was not applied. This is especially
striking since wide trade and social contacts with the Aegean had existed for many centuries and became particularly intensive in
the Late Bronze Age. In addition, the relationship between metal production and weighing utensils, including both canonical and
uncanonical weights (potential stone weights), will be investigated.
Making of yarn and fabrics can be perceived as fairly conservative and traditional craft where once invented and learned techniques and tools remain in use for generations. Nevertheless, the archaeological data from prehistoric cultures – in this case from the Bronze Age Aegean – supported by ethnographic observations from modern cultures demonstrate that textile production has been in fact a multifaceted and dynamic activity which was frequently effected by social, cultural and economic changes and innovations. Consequently, it resulted in dynamic responses of textile producers.
Although the transmission of textile knowledge and skills is not easy to grasp in the archaeological evidence, it may be traced through – presumably – progressive changes in textile technology and organisation of production. Throughout the Bronze Age, several important innovations in textile technology took place, e.g. introduction of new fibres, new textile tools for spinning and weaving, new techniques of dyeing. There were also important changes in organisation of manufacture and several new modes of production emerged, e.g. attached specialist production and workshop production for trade. Yet, at the same time, some technical elements seem to remained traditional and less responsive to the ongoing changes, and the household-based production continued.
In this paper, we aim to investigate dynamics of textile production by outlining important technical innovations. We will discuss traditions and changes in exploitation of raw materials (flax, wool and other fibres), spinning techniques (introduction of new types of spindle whorls, plying, low whorls, drop-spindle spinning), dyeing techniques (invention of purple dying), and weaving (new types of loom weights, new weaves, potentially new looms) in relation to organisation of textile production at the different stages of the Bronze Age. We also make an attempt of defining what sort of social processes and mechanisms may have enhanced the discussed changes and how the new textile knowledge and skills may have been transferred and spread.
production in Early Bronze Age Greece” was undertaken in the Centre for Textile Research
(CTR), SAXO Institute at the University of Copenhagen within a Marie Skłodowska Curie
fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF, PIEF-GA-2012-329910). Its aim was to investigate ,
development and changes of textile tools, techniques of textile making, as well as influences
from Anatolia and the Balkans on textile production in Early Helladic Greece. The research
was based on a thorough investigation and analysis of archaeological finds from excavations
mainly in the Peloponnese (predominantly spindle whorls and loom weights), experimental
tests undertaken at CTR and the University of Warsaw (by courtesy of Dr. Agata Ulanowska),
as well as collected ethnographical, zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical data. In this
paper, the main results of the project will be summarised with emphasis on 1. Changes in
spinning and weaving during Greek Early Bronze Age; 2. New textile implements and
techniques; 3. Use of plant vs. animal fibres; 4. Organisation of textile production.
The paper will address some of the many difficulties we encounter while investigating issues of manufacture, provenience and distribution, functions, use of various fibres, and use-wear traces on tools. Moreover, the application of the results of experimental and experience archaeology will be discussed, especially when these are contradictory or ambiguous.
While it is very difficult to introduce and adapt rigid standards of documentation and in the examination of the implements, more attention should be given to a more objective way of studying these objects. For example:
What is the best way to register textile tools and what data should be specified in scientific publications? (e.g. the weights of the tools are fundamental; however, they are still sometimes missing even in modern publications)
What scientific methods can be employed in order to give qualified statements concerning the manufacture and distribution of the implements? (e.g. petrography of clay items)
How can we evaluate potential use-wear traces on the implements and which specific methods should be applied? (e.g. microscopic analyses). To what extent can experiments with copies of textile tools be useful in interpretations of use-wear traces?
How can we review and use the diverse and frequently contradictory results of experiments and tests on the textile tools undertaken both by textile technicians/craftspeople and by archaeologists? To what extent can ethnographic data be useful for the interpretations of tools?
The improvement of the documentation and publication standards would considerably facilitate comparative studies of textile tools not only from the same area or culture, but also from neighbouring regions and succeeding periods. As a result, it would open avenues to new interpretations and enable critical narratives of the exciting (pre)history of textiles.
In this paper we aim to focus on those less recognisable phases of textile economics by presenting a few case studies from Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age Mainland Greece and Crete. By integrating archaeological, iconographic and textual evidence with experimental approach to textiles and textile tools, we discuss how, in those periods, economics of textiles may have been related to general models of organisation of (textile) production and what were its specialisation and standardisation levels.
We also consider how textiles may have been distributed and traded, and, if it is possible to assign a certain quality of textiles and their technical advancement to a specific organisation model of production. We attempt to determine what was the level of elite control over the textile production and how much the Bronze Age elites were directly and, possibly, personally involved in the manufacturing and trading of textiles.
In conclusion we suggest that various models of textile economics were likely coexisting together and, possibly, mutually interacting. Therefore, we argue against the linear evolutionary model of development of textile production and economics, from a household to an attached and (early) state controlled production.
linen, seem to have been the main material for the production of cloth and textiles during this period. At some point, most probably during the Early Bronze Age, animal fibres (sheep wool) began to be used in the Aegean on a wider scale. Since hardly any Neolithic and Early Bronze textiles are preserved from the Aegean, we can study textile tools made of stone, bone and clay in
order to comprehend technological traditions and innovations in textile production. Diachronic changes in the use of spindle whorls and loom weights (their weights, dimensions and shapes) may shed some
light on alternations in not only fibre use, but also in various spinning and weaving techniques. In this paper I would like to focus on chosen aspects of textile implements from Early Bronze Age Peloponnese.
textiles, as well as textile tools made of various materials, particularly clay, stone and bone. From Early
Bronze Age Greece (the 3rd millennium BC) no actual fabrics have, however, been preserved, thus
textile research can only investigate the numerous implements used in their production, primarily
found in the settlements. The aim of this paper is to discuss craftsmanship in Early Bronze Greece
(particularly the Peloponnese). New insights regarding the use of fibres, textile tools, changes and
innovations of techniques and implements, and the organisation of manufacture will be presented.
The textile tools commonly preserved at many sites display various qualities and methods of
production, from ‘home-made’ to standardised, and it seems that in some cases (especially in EBA II)
they may have been made by professional craftsmen and widely distributed. In other cases they were
rather made for private use. By analysing the archaeological contexts of such finds (especially spindle
whorls, loom weights, bone and metal objects) it is to a certain extent possible to reconstruct patterns
in their use, for example regarding the working areas and the organisation of textile manufacture.
There is no secure evidence for textile workshops in this period, but domestic manufacture seems to
be more probable than professional or attached production. On account of the wide range of spindle
whorls and loom weights attested, it is probable, as far as the types and dimensions are concerned,
that textile craftspeople developed specialised skills in the manufacturing of yarns of various thickness
and quality, and textiles of diverse quality, patterns and weaves, according to their needs or the
requirements of the market, whether it was local or part of wider trade routes.
Until now similar evidence for an industrialised use of textiles in the 3rd millennium BC is lacking from the Aegean. The rich written data dating from the Mycenaean period (the 2nd millennium BC) demonstrates, however, that similarly as in the Near East, also in Greece textiles and textile production belonged to one of the fundamental industries strictly controlled by the palace administrations. But when did it begin?
We may look for the answers by studying archaeological material from the Early Bronze Age. Numerous textile tools discovered from the Greek sites, especially clay spindle whorls and loom weights, offer important insights into the techniques of production of textiles and cloth. Textile tools, and particularly spindle whorls used to produce yarns, may give some significant information about the potential types of fibres spun (plant and animal), and the quality of produced yarns. A thorough analysis of loom weights, on the other hand, shed light on possible types of fabrics woven on the warp-weighted loom, and even on the potential types of weaves employed (e.g. twill).
The aim of the paper is to present the evidence based on the archaeological material for the use of different types of fibres and fabrics in the 3rd millennium Aegean, with a particular emphasis on the possible introduction and spread of the woolly wool (i.e. the long-staple wool). Probably, it was a result of long-distant cultural, economic, and trade contacts with Anatolia and other areas of the Near East. The main question to ask is whether it is possible to deduce from the textile tools when and how the new type of wool was introduced and how it may have influenced the textile tools and techniques in the Early Bronze Aegean.
15th-11th centuries BC (Late Helladic [LH] III A-C). Tiryns is one of the most important and well
published Mycenaean sites in the Peloponnese in Greece. In the Late Bronze Age the palace was built
on the so-called Upper Citadel on the top of a hill located directly by the sea, while an extensive
settlement with private and semi-dependent buildings spread in the Lower Citadel and in the area
surrounding the hill (the Lower Town).
During the Palatial period (LH III A-B) textile production played an important role in the Mycenaean
centres, which is well documented in the Linear B administrative texts found in several palatial
centres (e.g. at Pylos in Messenia and at Knossos on Crete). Also at Tiryns the textile craft must have
been of crucial importance for the industry and was strictly controlled by the palace. However, there
is only vague archaeological evidence for centrally organised textile manufacture carried out in
workshops or for magazines for textiles and raw materials in both this and other palatial centres.
Despite the lack of actual textile finds or of textual evidence for textile crafts at Tiryns, it is possible
to trace patterns of textile production in the various phases of the Late Bronze period through a
comprehensive typological and contextual analysis of small finds including textile implements
(Rahmstorf 2008; Siennicka 2014).
The main questions to be addressed in the paper concern the changes and continuation of textile
production at Tiryns during the Palatial and Postpalatial periods, variations in textile techniques and
tools, and finally craft specialisation. It will be suggested that whereas during the Palatial period
there is extensive evidence for spinning in the Lower citadel (mainly in semi-dependent buildings and
in the open areas; there is almost no evidence for weaving), this pattern changes considerably after
the collapse of the palatial culture at the end of LH IIIB. With the fall of the palace and its
administration, a new settlement spread in the Lower Citadel and in the Lower Town, with
indications of textile production (both spinning and weaving) of a more private and local character
than during the Palatial period. Use of new types of textile implements, especially clay spool-shaped
objects and pierced potsherds, can be observed.
Thanks to the experiments conducted in CTR within the Tools and Textiles – Texts and Contexts Research Programme, it has recently been demonstrated that functions of spools should be principally considered in relation to their weights. Large spools or cylinders (over 100 g), both with and without perforations, seem to have well served as loom weights in warp-weighted looms. Moreover, the tension that would preferably be applied to produce various types of fabrics can be estimated.
Smaller and lighter cylinders or spools (under 100 g) proved to have effectively functioned as weights in tablet weaving. Some of the spools might also be regarded as highly specialized tools for warping or measuring warp on warping frames (like modern Greek διάστρες) and as tools for making patterned cords in the kumihimo-like technique. Three sets of spools were used in some of the experiments carried out in the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw by Agata Ulanowska. There are copies of artifacts from BA Tiryns replicated and tested by students.
Small spools or reels, with and without perforations might have been used as shuttles in weaving on the loom, especially if many different colours or various types of threads were interwoven at the same time or frequently changed during the weaving process. Moreover, bobbins and reels simply could be used to wind threads for weaving and sewing and to store the yarns prepared during spinning. With the help of experiments, it can be estimated how long threads could be kept on various bobbins and whether they were indeed useful, for example as shuttles. Small spools are also evaluated as suitable tools in knotting heddles on a heddle bar.
In the present papers an overview of various clay spools primarily from the Bronze Age Aegean will be presented, their types and categories discussed and illustrated, archaeological context considered, and possible functions suggested, mainly based on archaeological experiments including the experiments conducted by authors.
Selected literature:
Barber 1997 Barber E.J.W., Minoan women and the challenges of weaving for home, trade and shrine, in: R. Laffineur, P.P. Betancourt (eds.), ΤΕΧΝΗ. Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 6th International Aegean Conference Philadelphia, Temple University, 18-21 April 1996, Aegaeum 16, 515-519.
Carington Smith 1975 Carington Smith J., Spinning, Weaving and Textile Manufacture in Prehistoric Greece – from the Beginning of the Neolithic to the End of the Mycenaean Ages; with Particular Reference to the Evidence Found on Archaeological Excavations (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Tasmania) 1975.
Gleba 2008 Gleba M., Textile Production in Pre-Roman Italy (Ancient Textile Series 4) Oxford 2008.
Mårtensson et al. 2007 Mårtensson L., E. Andersson, M.-L. Nosch, A. Batzer, Technical Report. Experimental Archaeology. Part 4 Spools, 2007. Tools and Textiles – Texts and Contexts Research Programme. The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research (CTR) University of Copenhagen, http://ctr.hum.ku.dk/tools/Technical_report_4__experimental_arcaheology.PDF/, 7.01.2014.
Pavúk 2012 Pavúk P., Of spools and discoid loom-weights: Aegean-type weaving at Troy, in: M.-L. Nosch, R. Laffineur (eds.) KOSMOS. Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference /13e Rencontre égéenne internationale, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, Copenhagen, 21-26 April 2010, Aegaeum 31, Liège 2012, 121-130.
Rahmstorf 2003 Rahmstorf L., Clay Spools from Tiryns and Other Contemporary Sites. An Indication of Foreign Influence in LH IIIC?, in: N. Kyparissi-Apostolika, M. Papakonstantinou (eds.) Η περιφέρεια του μυκηναϊκού κόσμου. Β´ Διεθνές διεπιστημονικό συμπόσιο, 26–30 Σεπτεμβρίου, Λαμία 1999, Πρακτικά/The Periphery of the Mycenaean World. 2nd International Interdisciplinary Colloquium. Lamia 26–30.9.1999, Lamia 2003, 397-415.
Rahmstorf 2005 Rahmstorf L., Ethnicity and Changes in Weaving Technology in Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean in the 12th century BC, in: V. Karageorghis, H. Matthäus, S. Rogge (eds.), Cyprus: Religion and Society from the Late Bronze Age to the End of the Archaic Period. Proceedings of an International Symposium on Cypriote Archaeology, Erlangen, 23-24 July 2004, Möhnesee-Wamel 2005, 143-169.
Rahmstorf 2008 Rahmstorf L. Tiryns: Forschungen und Berichte XVI. Kleinfunde aus Tiryns. Terrakotta, Stein, Bein und Glas/Fayence vornehmlich aus der Spätbronzezeit, Wiesbaden 2008.
Rahmstorf 2011 Rahmstorf L., Handmade Pots and Crumbling Loomweights: 'Barbarian' Elements in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Last Quarter of the 2nd Millennium BC, in: V. Karageorghis, Ou. Kouka (eds.), On Cooking Pots, Drinking Cups, Loomweights and Ethnicity in Bronze Age Cyprus and Neighbouring Regions: An International Archaeological Symposium held in Nicosia, November 6th-7th 2010, Nicosia 2011, 315-330.
Ræder Knudsen 2002 Ræder Knudsen L., La tessitura con le tavolette nella tomba 89, in: P. Von Eles (ed.), Guerriero e sacerdote. Autorità e comunità nell’età del ferro a Verucchio. La Tomba del Trono, Firenze 2002, 230-243.
Ræder Knudsen 2012 Ræder Knudsen L., Case Study: the Tablet-Woven Borders of Verucchio, in: M. Gleba, U. Mannering (eds.), Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, Ancient Textiles Series 11, Oxford 2012, 254-263.
Siennicka 2012 Siennicka M., Textile Production in Early Helladic Tiryns, in: M.-L. Nosch, R. Laffineur (eds.) KOSMOS. Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age. Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference /13e Rencontre égéenne internationale, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, Copenhagen, 21-26 April 2010, Aegaeum 31, Liège 2012, 65-75.
"
Europe and the Mediterranean. Although complex and socially and economically important, textile technology has been often
considered rather traditional and noninnovative throughout many centuries of the Bronze Age.
The present session aims to examine textile technology in search of its traditional and innovative elements, by investigating
the evidence of archaeological textiles, textile tools and their changes over time, the botanical and faunal environment, textual
sources and the imagery of textiles and cloths. The session will focus on the Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean,
although papers on transitional periods from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, and from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron
Age are also welcome.
We particularly welcome all papers discussing the various aspects of traditions and innovations traced in textile technology,
especially those regarding raw materials and their processing, textile techniques, textile tools and equipment, the organisation of
textile production and the dynamics of its specialisations, cross-cultural and cross-craft interactions, and changes in the textile
craft in relation to socio-cultural transformations of the past societies.
Our second meeting will be devoted to textile, rope and mat impressions and imprints in clay. We would like to discuss several case studies (e.g. Kültepe, Arslantepe and Argos), prepare our own imprints in clay, and then to study them and other copies of original imprints under digital microscopes (Dino-Lite, provided by CTR). Imprints and impressions belong to a very important class of objects found at many prehistoric sites and sometimes they are the only evidence of original textiles. Proper methods of examining, describing and documenting them is crucial for further studies on the imprinted textiles and mats.
The present session aims to examine textile technology in search for its traditional and innovative elements, through investigating the evidence of archaeological textiles, textile tools and their diachronic changes, botanical and faunal environment, textual sources and imagery of textiles and cloths. The session will focus on the Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean, although papers referring to transitional periods from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, and from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age will also be welcomed.
We particularly welcome all papers discussing various aspects of traditions and innovations traced in textile technology, especially these regarding raw materials and their processing, textile techniques, textile tools and equipment, organisation of textile production and dynamics of its specialisations, cross-cultural and cross-craft interactions, and changes of textile craft in relation to socio-cultural transformations of the past societies.