Textile Production and Specialisation in Bronze Age Europe

Sabatini, Serena; Bergerbrant, Sophie

doi:10.1017/9781108656405.001

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 28 publications

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“…Fiber technology (including cordage and textiles) has played a central role in human societies for tens of thousands of years, and its production, application, trade, and exchange have deep roots in prehistory ( Barber, 1991 ; Gilligan, 2010 ; Sabatini and Bergerbrant, 2020 ; Schier and Pollock, 2020 ). This was recently exemplified by the rare find of a 46,000-y-old cord fragment made from inner bark fibers at the Neanderthal site of Abri du Maras in France ( Hardy et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East

et al. 2022

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Fiber technology (cordage and textile) has played a central role in all human societies for thousands of years, and its production, application and exchange have deep roots in prehistory. However, fiber remains have only rarely been observed in prehistoric sites because they tend to decay quickly in normal environmental conditions. To overcome preservation problems of macroscopic remains, we employed microbotanical analysis on soils from anthropogenic sediments in activity areas at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, Israel (ca. 5,200–4,700 cal BC), and recovered fiber microremains. This includes at least two types of bast fibers and the earliest evidence of cotton in the Near East, some of which were dyed in various colors. Some of these fibers likely represent the remnants of ancient clothing, fabric containers, cordage, or other belongings. The cotton remains, probably derived from wild species originating in South Asia, predate the oldest known cotton domestication in the Indus Valley by about two millennia. Tel Tsaf played a pivotal role in trans-regional trade and exchange networks in the southern Levant, and the presence of cotton at the site points to possible connections with the Indus Valley as early as 7,200 years ago.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East

et al. 2022

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Bronze Age Woollen Textile Production in England: A Consideration of Evidence and Potentials

Haughton¹,

Sørensen²,

Jørgensen

2021

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Responding to recent advances in knowledge about the first arrival of woollen sheep in Europe and linked investigations of textile remains on the Continent, this paper argues that our insight into the role of wool in the English Bronze Age needs rethinking. We argue that the relevant questions are: when did the procurement of and working with wool become a routine aspect of settlement life, and did the change from plant fibres to wool affect communities differently? The paper outlines some of the core research questions we need to consider and points to the necessity of triangulating between the evidence provided by textiles, faunal remains, and textile working tools to reach more comprehensive insights. The paper ends by indicating a further research question – namely whether the apparent differences in the ‘wool economy’ in different parts of Bronze Age Europe may suggest differences in ‘body politics’.

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Textile Production and Specialisation in Bronze Age Europe

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East

The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East

Bronze Age Woollen Textile Production in England: A Consideration of Evidence and Potentials

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