In past societies, textiles played a very important role in many spheres — social, economic, technological and aesthetic. An understanding of textiles and its role in older cultures is important both as a tool for everyone interested in the past and as a link in the chain of past to present. Textiles served various functions of a practical and symbolic nature which have left quite diverse traces for modern researchers to find and attempt to weave together.
If one compares modern textile research in southern Europe with that in northern Europe, for example, it is clearly seen that there are two quite different traditions in the study of ancient textiles. In southern Europe, the historical-philological tradition has had a major role as finds of ancient textiles are rare in the extreme but a wide range of written sources has permitted studies of aspects of the craft. These include: its place in the various societies and the social position (or lack of) of the textiles craftsmen and craftswomen. Sources such as vase painting and frescoes have provided evidence of fashion, iconography, production methods and tools, and art historical considerations.
In northern Europe on the other hand, there is an abundance of preserved textiles, and clothing finds, but little written or other evidence. Thus, the textiles themselves have been the focus of study, providing the basis for a large fund of knowledge about the use of different textile techniques and materials. Natural scientific analyses have also added to the understanding of textiles. Furthermore there is a 30-year tradition of experimental archaeology in textile production.
Other parts of the world have yet different traditions.
The conference is aimed at addressing the bigger issues, many of which have been touched upon but never penetrated in depth in other fora about textiles. By gathering together textiles researchers and others with related interests from different disciplines and areas whose work cover a wide range of time periods, geographical focal points and diverse social structures, we hope to knit together our combined expertise, examine together problems, issues, and questions (and answers), to understand our various starting points better, and in general to increase the understanding of this craft in a regional and global perspective. In other words, the goal of this conference is to examine textile production, consumption, and function as a global phenomenon, with a common background and development despite regional differences, and to add to the general fund of knowledge concerning antiquity both internally for each of us as individual researchers and externally for all those scholars of times past not dealing with textiles
