Textiles, tools and production
Eva Andersson
The production of artefacts is a fundamental feature of man. Traces of this can be observed in the archaeological record in the form of waste products, tools, and remains of finished products. Some crafts such as comb making, bronze casting, flintknapping or pottery making are more visible than others. This depends on conditions of preservation, but also aspects such as ideals of research, gender issues, etc. The study of some crafts are acceptable and/ or fashionable, others less so. Textile crafts have generally been a rather invisible field in archaeology. This presumably is due to a focus on textiles as a female and thus marginal research field, rather than on their manufacture. Thanks to a clearer picture of the range of textile products and their spread, we now have the opportunity to study textile manufacture and the organisation of textile crafts during the Later Iron Age and Viking Age in Scandinavia. Apart from textiles themselves the archaeological record comprise a large amount of textile tools, or remains of such, dated to the Viking Age (800-1050 AD). Spindle whorls, loom weights and bone needles are commonly found at excavations.
Several types of tools were used to produce textiles and within every implement group there has been a variation that affects the production. For example, yarn quality varies greatly between different textiles. This implies that spindles and/or spindle-whorls of various sizes were employed. Thread count also indicates a demand for different-sized loom weights; varying cloth qualities suggest that needles of different thickness were used. All implements, or parts of implements, recorded by their primary function and relevant for the manufacturing processes can tells us something about production.
In this lecture I will present the textile tools in use during the Viking Age Scandinavia, how they can have been used and discuss what this knowledge can give archaeology in a wider perspective.
Influence of the raw material on technology
Antoinette Rast-Eicher
The base of this study are the iron age textiles of Switzerland. As they are nearly all metal replaced, fibre analysis had to be done by scanning electron microscopy. Measurments of the wool have shown a development of the sheep. There is a clear difference between wools of the Hallstatt and Latène period. And towards the roman period (end of Latène) another fleece type appears in the graves. During the iron age the wools can explain the spinning technology which is changing parallel to the change of the fleece type. These results show how much in that period the raw material was influencing the technology, especially because there was no choice of different wool types as it was the case in later periods.
This study can be added with material (wool measurments) and the spinning on both ends of the time scale: the bronze age textiles, and on the other end roman and early medieval textiles.
Textile Production at Pseira
Philip P. Betancourt
The Minoan settlement on Pseira was inhabited from the end of the Neolithic period c. 3000 BC until its destruction in Late Minoan IIIB c. 1200 BC. At its height, in LM IB c. 1450, the town consisted of over 60 buildings arranged around a large open square. Textiles must have been an important part of the towns economy at this time because evidence for their manufacture comes from buildings throughout the explored part of the town, and additional information is provided by representations of woven goods on frescoes and clay vessels. Clay loom weights show that the people of Pseira used the warp-weighted loom, which was usual for Minoan weaving. Loom weights from Pseira are discoid in shape, with several subvarieties of design. They come from many houses, suggesting that the production was performed in homes throughout the community rather than in some centralized location. Especially interesting evidence comes from the Plateia Building, at the north of the town square. The building was a large structure with evidence for several crafts in addition to weaving. Weights from here suggest that the artifacts may not have been used in matched sets, because the examples from the building are of different sizes and weights.
Information on the weaving patterns used at this period comes from secondary sources. A fresco from Pseira depicts women wearing garments with elaborate repeat-patterns in several colors. In addition to woven goods used as clothing, the Minoans seem to have had a tradition of net-like woven pieces that could be used as wall hangings and in rituals. Examples of such nets appear on several bull-shaped figurines from Pseira, draped across the animals and recalling Classical Greek literary references to sacrifices of bulls draped with mantles. The Pseiran nets can provide information on a little-known class of woven goods.
Artefacts related to preparation of wool and textile-processing found in
the Terrace Houses of Ephesus, Turkey
Elisabeth Trinkl
The excavations of the two Terrace Houses of Ephesus, Turkey, unveiled a large amount of new information on the living conditions of the upper classes in Western Asia Minor in Roman Imperial times. Apart from the excellent state of preservation of the ruins and the well-preserved mosaics and frescoes a huge amount of material was recovered, yet mostly unpublished, which allows an insight into social interactions. Aside from ubiquitous ceramics, glassware and coins there are varied furniture, findings of bronze and stone and also some artefacts related to preparation of wool and textile-processing. Whorls and distaffs were recovered – unfortunately we could not identify a spindle yet –, as well as loomweights and needles. In the course of a research project carried out by the Institute for Studies of Ancient Culture, Austrian Academy of Sciences, these findings, the majority of which were excavated within the past forty years, are prepared for a comprehensive publication (irrespective of the material).
Relatively little development of tools related to textile-processing is seen in Roman times due to the inherent necessities of practical use. The discovery of textile-related tools in specific rooms of the Terrace Houses inevitably leads to the allocation of their functions. What information related to a model of social interaction within these residences can we derive from this identification?
A small sample of similar objects within the whole ensemble of tools related to textile-processing seams particularly interesting. These objects are short sticks with one rounded end, whereas the other end is decorated variably, mostly with small figurines. In their shape they closely resemble distaffs. However, not one of them shows signs of wear. These findings unquestionably lead to a symbolic meaning of these items within the social context of the women living and working in the Terrace Houses.
The academic craftsman
Martin Ciszuk
What is happening in textile archaeological research in the meeting between craftmanship on one side and academic theory and method on the other side? As an educaded handweaver starting an academic career, I feel a need for a discussion about how craftmanship is used in textile research.
Philosphers of knowledge have investigated the character of the craftmans skill, using expressions as: “kunskap i handling – knowledge in action” (Bengt Molander) “tacit knowledge”( Michael Polanyi) and the difference between “knowing how and knowing that”(Gilbert Ryle).
As a craftsman entering the field of research, it is important to investigate the field and discourse of modern handweaving, including education and tradition. Here some of the ideas and tools of the philosopher Michael Focault and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu can be used.
Using textile experiments done in connection with the Mons Claudianus Textile projekt as examples I would like to illustrate how craftsmen’s skills have been used in textile archaeological research, and discuss possibillities and pitfalls in combining academic reasoning and craftmanship.
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