Irene Good

When was silk first brought across the steppe from far China towards the European world? There is silk from the Middle Bronze Age of Uzbekistan, in Scythian burials of Siberia and among the Hallstatt grave-goods of western Europe. Teasing out the story of silk depends on identifying the textile, and distinguishing its several varieties apart.

Long-distance exchange is a subject of great interest to scholars of the ancient world. Interaction between different groups is a fundamental developmental factor in early state formation. Although economic texts offer concrete quotidian data, literary texts can shed light on the more social aspects of long-distance exchange. Textiles are a principal medium of exchange, not only because they can be transported as a ‘low bulk-high value’ commodity, but also because they carry deep social meanings; yet textiles are underrepresented aspects of the archaeological record. The story of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta illustrates the importance of textiles as a medium of exchange, and provides a backdrop for archaeological textile research.



(This volume is currently out of print but will be reprinted by Oxbow Books and the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research).

Archaeological textile studies are now recognized as a robust source of information for anthropological inquiry. Over the last decade several important developments have taken place, enabling an integrated approach to the study of archaeological textiles. Topics range from the development of analytical methods for the analysis of degraded fibers to the comparative study of specific histories of textile and clothing traditions. Archaeological textile studies address relevant issues ranging from aesthetics and style to gender; from technological development to production and exchange economics. This chapter presents an overview of current research in the growing field of archaeological textile studies. Both Old World and New World textile projects are examined, allowing for a balanced assessment of the various directions which have been taken in methodology, research objectives, and data procurement.

Models of interaction in Eurasian archaeology, particularly for the bronze and iron ages, have centered on large-scale movements of peoples explained by principally economic or climatic drivers, for example in the exchange of exotic goods, or of the expanding steppe zone due to increased aridity. These models have relied on a simplistic ‘steppe nomad’ versus ‘settled farmer’ dichotomy, with mixed agro-pastoral systems consistently overlooked. Tribal exogamy and gender and age-based activities also contribute to the complexity of interaction in prehistoric Eurasia. This paper considers social dimensions of interaction and in particular discusses the importance of highland and high alpine landscapes, not as strictly wild space but also as an emerging cultural space, especially as mining metal ores and precious stones increased. This highland and alpine space became an integral region of interaction in Central Asia, with remnants of ancient lifeways still found among rural Pamiri peoples today.

Silk is an important economic fiber, and is generally considered to have been the exclusive cultural heritage of China. Silk weaving is evident from the Shang period c. 1600-1045 BC, though the earliest evidence for silk textiles in ancient China dates to a millennium earlier. Recent microscopic analysis of archaeological thread fragments found inside copper and steatite beads from two important Indus sites, Harappa and Chanhu-daro, have yielded silk fibers, dating to c. 2450-2000 BC. This study offers the earliest evidence in the world for any silk outside China, and is roughly contemporaneous with the earliest Chinese evidence for silk. This important new finding brings into question the traditional historical notion of sericulture as being an exclusively Chinese invention.

The theme of this paper is to highlight problems in assessing long distance contact and exchange in the prehistory of Eurasia, from a materials science point of view and from the vantage point of material culture studies.  Much of our understanding of the development of civilizations rests on our understanding of contact between culture groups in prehistory. This is particularly so for inner Eurasia, and so it is of utmost interest to refine and revise our evidentiary interpretations of past contact and exchange between East and West. There are also basic problems, from differences and lacunae in chronometric data, to problems of access to site reports due to language barriers and/or publication delays, which challenge the development of models of culture contact and interchanges and the interpretation of archaeological data. This paper overviews current problems, suggesting practice towards their amelioration for future, internationally collaborative archaeologies of the regions later known as the Steppe and Silk Roads.

Extraordinarily well-preserved organic remains from mortuary and settlement sites, including mummified bodies, are scattered along the outer oasis-laden rim of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Province, China, ranging in date from ca. 1400 BC to the late first millennium AD.  Specimens of textile finds from Chärchän, dated at about 1000 BC were selected for dye analysis using newly developed protocols employing high performance liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric and mass spectrometric detection.  A single blue (indigo), a red (from madder) and two yellow dyes were detected, although the exact plant source for none of them could be identified with certainty. This research offers new insights in the interpretation of textile finds from prehistoric Xinjiang, and more generally, of early Bronze Age Eurasia.