2014 - Integrating the Evidence: Historic Silk Production in Context

FormAkademisk - forskningstidsskrift for design og designdidaktikk

Patterned silks came to Scandinavia as small pieces of reused material, but they were still valuable for the Vikings to have been used as trimmings on their garments. In over a millennium, the weave structure of samitum in these fragments was used in all patterned silk. In the medieval it was displaced in favor for other structures. It has lapsed into obscurity for weavers today. For several reasons the study of these silks has been difficult. The fragments are fragile. They were not made in Norway. Few have mastered this weaving technique. Is it possible to reconstruct these ancient silks, based on the knowledge gained from studying historical silks and experience acquired from using the structure in modern textiles? This article is about my attempt to do so, and also my reflections of the possible longtime impact on these silks on the weaving tradition in Norway.

The authors argue that ars polymita is the art of weaving weft-faced compound tabby (taquete) on an ancient version of the Iranian vertical zilu-loom and ars plumaria is the art of weaving Gobelin-style tapestry. They rest their case on a combination of Roman literary and papyrological sources and contemporary archaeological finds.

2022

Following the growth in textile studies over the past decade, we aim to present a comprehensive update of the state-of-the-art summarised in the seminal 2010 paper “Old Textiles – New Possibilities” by E. Andersson Strand, K. M. Frei, M. Gleba, U. Mannering, M.-L. Nosch and I. Skals. The diverse developments of the last decade, along with the increased recognition of the importance of textile studies in adjacent fields, now merit a dedicated, full-length publication entitled “Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles”. With this volume, we also wish to illustrate the current impact of textile archaeology on the scholarly perception of the past (not limited to archaeology alone). The volume presents new insights into the consumption, meaning, use and re-use of textiles and dyes, all of which are topics of growing importance in textile research. As indicated by the title, we demonstrate the continued importance of interdisciplinarity by showcasing several ‘interwoven’ approaches to environmental and archaeological remains, textual and iconographic sources, archaeological experiments and ethnographic data, from a large area covering Europe and the Mediterranean, Near East, Africa and Asia. The chronological span is deliberately wide, including materials dating from c. 6th millennium BCE to c. mid-14th century CE.

Short Run Press. [xcl e r 2. The Emergence of the Ghassulian Textile Industry in the Southern Levant Chalcoli thic Pe ri od (c. 4500-3900 BeE) by Jan el Levy and Isaac Gilead ' GoJe.>d lOO9.lH •

2020

Zea Books, 2017

2022

The diverse developments in textile research of the last decade, along with the increased recognition of the importance of textile studies in adjacent fields, now merit a dedicated, full-length publication entitled “Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles”. With this volume, the authors and the editors wish to illustrate to the current impact of textile archaeology on the scholarly perception of the past (not limited to archaeology alone). The volume presents new insights into the consumption, meaning, use and re-use of textiles and dyes, all of which are topics of growing importance in textile research. As indicated by the title, we demonstrate the continued importance of interdisciplinarity by showcasing several ‘interwoven’ approaches to environmental and archaeological remains, textual and iconographic sources, archaeological experiments and ethnographic data, from a large area covering Europe and the Mediterranean, Near East, Africa and Asia. The chronological span is deliberately wide, including materials dating from c. 6th millennium BCE to c. mid-14th century CE. The volume is organised in four parts that aim to reflect the main areas of the textile research in 2020. After the two introductory chapters (Part I: About this Volume and Textile Research in 2020), follow two chapters referring to dyes and dyeing technology in which analytical and material-based studies are linked to contextual sources (Part II: Interdisciplinarity of Colour: Dye Analyses and Dyeing Technologies). The six chapters of Part III: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Textile Tools discuss textiles and textile production starting from the analyses of tools, whether functional or as representative of technological developments or user identity. Archaeological and cultural contexts as well as textile traditions are the main topics of the six chapters in Part IV: Traditions and Contexts: Fibres, Fabrics, Techniques, Uses and Meanings. The two final chapters in Part V: Digital Tools refer to the use of digital tools in textile research, presenting two different case studies.

2016

The aim of the conference (7th-8th May 2015) is to present and discuss 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.

Siennicka M., Rahmstorf L., Ulanowska A. 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 Textiles Series 32. Oxford, Philadelphia 2018, 2018

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.