Ancient textile tools

On book: "Minoan ladies, Scythian warriors, Roman and Sarmatian merchants, prehistoric weavers, gold sheet figures, Vikings, Medieval saints and sinners, Renaissance noblemen, Danish peasants, dressmakers and Hollywood stars appear in the pages of this anthology. This is not necessarily how they dressed in the past, but how the authors of this book think they dressed in the past, and why they think so. No reader of this book will ever look at a reconstructed costume in a museum or at a historical festival, or watch a film with a historic theme again without a heightened awareness of how, why, and from what sources, the costumes were reconstructed. The seventeen contributors come from a variety of disciplines: archaeologists, historians, curators with ethnological and anthropological backgrounds, designers, a weaver, a conservator and a scholar of fashion in cinema, are all specialists interested in ancient or historical dress who wish to share their knowledge and expertise with students, hobby enthusiasts and the general reader. The anthology is also recommended for use in teaching students at design schools."

The textiles produced in Viking Age Scandinavia were not only a twofold system of spun fibres. They were a result of complex interactions among resources, technology and society and moreover the Viking societies’ needs, desires and choices. Naturally, the accessibility of resources and the state of technology conditioned the choices of this society (Andersson Strand et al., 2010). In this article, textile production and its
organisation in Birka and Hedeby will be compared and discussed. This will be done via studies of textiles and textile tools, and a model of various organisational modes presented. The results of tool analyses demonstrate that, the majority of the textiles from the two places could also have been produced there. The general assumption that most of the textiles were imported to Birka is questioned.

Knowledge of textile history including fibre, technology, tools etc, is essential and absolutely necessary for our understanding of the past. Textile research has become an important field of archaeology and has an enormous potential, being able to tell us about economic, social, chronological, and cultural aspects of past societies. Due to poor preservation conditions, few textiles have survived in the Near East. However, the few existing fragments, in combination with other sources, provide evidence of a well-developed knowledge of how to use fibres for producing textiles. Furthermore, the analyses demonstrate that several types of plant and animal fibres were used in textile production. Flax fibres and sheep wool are considered to be the two most important textile fibres from Neolithic to modern times. Information gathered from the analysis of textiles suggests that it is highly plausible that the different stages of processing fibres were similar across ancient Eurasia even if it is, of course, important to consider that different climate zones will affect both the need for and access to fibres. Archaeobotanical and zoo ostelogical material also provide information on the use of textile fibres. Additionally, different types of installations (e.g. retting pits, workshops) and textile tools (e.g. mallets, spindles, looms) would have been used and even if many tools were made of perishable materials textile tools such as spindle whorls and loom weights are well known from archaeological contexts. Therefore, this paper will give a basic framework for textile production that will provide important insights into the procurement and processing of plant and animal fibres and briefly on spinning and weaving. This will be accomplished with information from archaeological and written sources used in combination with ethnography and experimental archaeology.

While  the  Homeric  heroes  occupy  themselves  with  politics  and  war,  the  women  are  busy  with  their,  apparently,  most  frequent  and  typical  occupation:  weaving.  Helen,  Andromache,  and  –  of  course  –  Penelope  sit  at  loom  every  day.  In  spite  of  this  textual  evidence  which  may  hint  at  the  Bronze/Iron  Age  everyday  life  reality,  surprisingly  small  amount  of  loomweights  were  found  in  Troia.  For  the  number  of  total  1833  textile  production  tools  recorded  for  Troia  at  the  CTR  database,  the  majority  (over  81%,  1493  objects)  are  spindle  whorls,  while  only  ca.  10%  are  loom  weights.1  The  number  of  textile  tools  in  the  other  tools  groups  is  even  smaller.

Around 3500 BC, an adult elephant was sacrificed and buried in the elite cemetery of Hierakonpolis in the very south of Egypt. The elephant was given a burial similar to humans including a linen shroud. This shroud is just one of an impressive
number of textiles found at the site illustrating a range of uses. The textiles of the late prehistory in Egypt, the predynastic period, have not yet been thoroughly researched, and the linen of the elephant’s shroud therefore presents a unique opportunity to consider the time used to produce it and the expertise of the spinners and weavers. The information from textile tools found at Hierakonpolis can now also be added to this story. The results of research into the elephant’s shroud and the textile tools question on our perception of prehistoric society in Egypt just before state formation, especially in relation to the organisation of textile production.
Keywords: Egyptian prehistory, animal burial, linen shroud, spindle whorl

This is an authorized preprint version of the respective chapter appearing in: S. Münger (ed.), Kinneret II,2 – The Early Iron Age. Report on Finds and Findings from Tell el-‘Orēme/Tēl Kinrōt, Excavations 1994–2008, Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, accepted and approved by the editor [Bern 2020].

Conserving textiles as a phenomenon can be traced back to the beginning of civilization. Also it is interesting to note that the practice is evident at various echelons. In some instances it is conservation of textile on the whole, where safeguarding, mending or resizing brings it back to a useful form without altering much in its original character. This incidentally is conservation in its purest form, where artefact retains its original character. Other instances where the textile has degenerated to a state where its integrity cannot be retained, valuable sections are reorganized into a new object, thus saving the workmanship from extinction. It would be interesting to note that in such cases the focus of conservation shifts from the object to the elements of workmanship that provide aesthetic and cultural value. Thus the sight of a grandmother mending small snips/cuts in clothes of her children/grandchildren or resizing elder child’s clothes for the younger one; a mother taking out family’s expensive linen and her own treasured trousseau on a sunny day; a craftsperson joining patches of damaged fabrics for creating a quilt, sheet or robe; all these are conservation works at simplest. Thus ‘conservation’ is inherent to any culture that values resources, traditions and workmanship. The tradition is most relevant for textiles as they can be complete reflection of the culture, technology, influences and beliefs of both the maker and the wearer. Thus textiles are precious tools of interpretation in all disciplines that explore and understand human dynamics at various times. Colour, style, cut, drape, embellishment, each element that makes up a textile is driven by some logic that is indicator of its ecology. Thus it becomes imperative to conserve these precious momentums, so that they can be studied and researched repeatedly over the period of time, helping understand ethos of past and inspiring generations to come. In the last century, museums have become safe-houses and promoters for all these precious artefacts. Although the term ‘Museum’, was coined in Greek mythology where ‘Muse’ were the goddesses of talent and ‘Museums’, temples of these ‘Muses’. Subsequently, museums developed as institutions for display of art, culture and knowledge. No sooner the modern form of museums was developed; there arose a need for keeping the artefacts in a state that could prolong their useful lifetime. Thus the contemporary concept of ‘Conservation’ was generated.

Abstract:
Clay spools are ubiquitous in many regions of the ancient Greek world, being associated by archaeologists most often with textile crafts. This category of tools is controversial because the functionality of the ancient spool-shaped objects made of clay is still highly debated among scholars. Despite the large numbers of spools dating to the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods recovered from archaeological sites in Elis (e.g. Olympia, Elean Pylos, Makrysia) and in other regions of Peloponnese, as it is the Argolid and Corinthia, these objects have received much less attention than their Bronze Age counterparts. As a consequence, relatively little is understood about their modes of production, geographical distribution and functionality. This paper investigates a trait observed on the waist of several of the ancient spools from Elis and examines an ancient production technique of spools that remains quasi-unknown in the field of archaeological textiles: the moulding of spools.
Keywords: Clay spools, Textile tools, Peloponnese, Olympia, Elean, Pylos, Bivalve mould, Spool-shaped loom weights.

Resumen: Los carretes de arcilla están presentes en muchas regiones de la Antigua Grecia, siendo lo más habitual que se vinculen con la artesanía textil. No obstante, esta clase de artefactos no está libre de controversia, pues la funcionalidad de los objetos de
arcilla que adquieren esta forma de carrete es ampliamente debatida por parte de la investigación. A pesar de las grandes cantidades de carretes fechables en época arcaica, clásica y helenística que se han recuperado en varios yacimientos de la región de la Élide
(por ejemplo, en Olimpia, Elea, Pilos o Macrisia) y en otras zonas de Grecia, como la Argólide y la región de Corinto, estos objetos han recibido mucha menor atención que sus homólogos de la Edad del Bronce. Consecuentemente, es muy poco lo queue se sabe acerca de sus sistemas de producción, su distribución geográfica o su funcionalidad. Este trabajo se centra en una característica observada en varios de los antiguos carretes de la Élide y estudia una antigua técnica de producción que sigue siendo casi desconocida en el campo de las herramientas textiles en la Antigüedad: el uso de moldes para fabricarlos.
Palabras-clave: Carretes cerámicos; Herramientas textiles; Peloponeso; Olimpia; Elea; Pilos; Moldes bivalvos; Pesas de telar en forma de carrete.

The domain of archaeology is frequently subjected to situations when the functionality of categories of artefacts is not known and researchers find themselves on a ground of speculations and free interpretations. Just like, in a more notorious case, archaeologists interpret ancient figurines of small dimensions as dolls, toys for children or magical religious paraphernalia, ancient Greek classical „bobbins” can be interpreted as yo-yos, toys, homoerotic gifts or actual bobbins, used in textile production. The aim of this paper is to emphasize their importance and to provide a preliminary account of these objects. I also discuss the principal issues with regard to classical pottery bobbins, as they were highlighted in the available literature on the topic and I briefly refer to the larger category of the so-called ancient Greek „bobbins” made of a greater variety of materials.

At the start of Naqada II, a new material is being used all over Egypt. Linen textile, woven from flax, is used in most human burials (and a few animal burials) either as shrouds or as padding in an early form of mummification. The woven linen is also used for ritual purposes; to protect foundation deposits and as backing for plaster and paint in walls of ritual structures and artefacts. But when and how did this new material arrive, how was it produced, by whom and where? In Hierakonpolis, a large amount of textile tools for spinning are found in ritual contexts, making the question of whether textile for ritual use was also produced ritually relevant.

172 objects recorded, dated to LH IIIA-C, EH.  objects include spindle whorls, loom weights, Conulus.
This report is a part of the project: Tools and Textiles – Texts and Contexts (TTTC).

Link to the report: https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/tools/toolsreports/tiryns_technical_textile_tools_report_.pdf
See more about the TTTC-project at https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/tools/

76 objects recorded, dated to LH.  objects include spindle whorls, loom weights.
This report is a part of the project: Tools and Textiles – Texts and Contexts (TTTC).

Link to the report: https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/tools/toolsreports/technical_textile_tools_report_berbati.pdf

See more about the TTTC-project at https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/research-programmes-and-projects/previous-programmes-and-projects/tools/

Bachelorprojekt om tekstilredskaber i form af ten- og vævevægte i ældre jernalder.

Tekstiler fra forhistorien har gennem det sidste århundrede været genstand for omfattende forskning. Det er dog først inden for de seneste årtier, at også tekstilredskaber er kommet i fokus. På baggrund af denne forskning er især tekstilteknologien i germansk jernalder og vikingetid blevet belyst. Tekstilproduktionen og -håndværket i førromersk og ældre romersk jernalder er dog primært blevet undersøgt ud fra de mange tekstilfund. Tekstilredskaber fra disse perioder optræder ikke i stort antal og har endnu ikke været genstand for systematisk forskningsarbejde. Det har denne bogs forfattere påbegyndt i et forskningsprojekt med fokus på fund af ten- og vævevægte i de tidligere amter Ribe og Vejle.

Bachelorprojektet er forløber til et upubliceret speciale 'Fragmenter af et håndværk - Tekstilhåndværkets synlige og usynlige rum i førromersk og ældre romersk jernalder' (2017), der omfatter registrering og analyse af ten- og vævevægte fra hele den jyske halvø i ældre jernalder.