Arachne's Web: Women, Weaving and Networks of Knowledge in the Bronze Age Southern Aegean

Abstract

The appearance of loom weights at a number of southern Aegean sites in the Middle and early Late Bronze Age is indicative of the adoption of a new weaving technology: the use of the warp-weighted loom. The specific type of loom weight (discoid) recovered is a Cretan form, and this evidence of Cretan influence is also seen in a wider range of material culture features at these settlements during this period. Weaving is a complex skill and learning requires contact between novice and expert practitioner over an extended period of time; the introduction of a new weaving technology therefore raises the question of how the necessary technical knowledge and know-how was transferred from one individual or community to another. The archaeological indicators of this new technological practice, the loom weights themselves, are objects that very rarely travel, except with their owners; the presence of loom weights manufactured from non-local ceramic fabrics at some of the southern Aegean sites can therefore provide a window into the patterns of mobility through which the new technology is likely to have spread. Both in the Bronze Age and subsequent Archaic and Classical periods, weaving was closely associated with women. Loom weights thus constitute archaeological markers for the craftswomen who used them. This paper explores the insight they can offer into female networks of teaching, learning and craft practice in the second millennium bc.

Earthen Architecture as a Community of Practice: A Case Study of Neolithic Earthen Production in the Eastern Mediterranean

“…Recent ethnoarchaeological studies showed how repetitive actions stemming from the manufacture of earthen building materials result in a multi-sensory experience that conditions the mind and help to develop kinaesthetic motor skills and tactile sensibility (Jerome et al 1999;Marchand 2011). Similar studies on ceramic production have emphasized the importance of nondeclarative knowledge often expressed through motor skills and implicit learning (Abell 2020;Cutler 2019;Gosselain et al 2009;Squire 2004;Warnier 2007).…”

“…Thus, a 'communities of practice' approach allows us to investigate skill transfer at the synchronic and diachronic level within the same community and between multiple sites (Abell 2020;Knappett & van der Leeuw 2014, 82). By sharing their knowledge, members of a community can increase the general social-based knowledge and develop motor skills essential for craft specialization (Cutler 2019;Lave & Packer 2011;Lave & Wenger 1991). In their assertion that 'a community of practice is a set of relations among persons, activity and world over time and in relation to other tangential and overlapping communities of practice', Lave and Wenger (1991, 115) propounded how the learning process is not just a top-down approach but often also works horizontally within communities.…”

Dealing With the Crisis: Mobility of Aeginetan-Tradition Potters Around 1200 Bc

“…Men were definitely more likely to leave their households for several months than women. In general, the mobility of women is determined by very different factors (see Cutler 2019, 86–8; Murray, Chorghay and MacPherson 2020, 230–1).…”

“… 50 It is interesting to think about difficulties connected to the ‘unlearning’ of previously acquired techniques, pointed out by Cutler (2019) in her discussion of the transmission of technology related to textile production.…”

Tekstylia i pieczęcie. O relacjach pomiędzy produkcją włókienniczą a praktykami stemplowania w Grecji epoki brązu oraz o zupełnie nowych danych z odcisków glinianych pieczęci

“…skals et al 2015), multidyscyplinarne analizy szeregu źródeł pośrednich pozwoliły na odtworzenie kluczowej roli produkcji włókienniczej w gospodarkach kultur egejskich (np. Barber 1991;tzachili 1997;Burke 2010;Nosch, laffineur 2012;Harlow et al 2014;shaw, chapin 2016;†cutler 2021). liczne pozostałości narzędzi włókienniczych umożliwiają szacunkowe określenie parametrów przędzionych nitek, a następnie tkanin (andersson strand, Nosch 2015), rozmieszczenie narzędzi wskazywać może na skalę i organizację produkcji (Ulanowska, siennicka 2018), a także na procesy społeczne towarzyszące przekazywaniu umiejętności wytwórczych ( †cutler 2019).…”