Textiles and Textile Production in Europe: From Prehistory to AD 400

512 Pages·2012·113.54 MB·English

by  Margarita Gleba

textiles and textile Production in europe
from Prehistory to ad 400
edited by
Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering
oxbow books
Oxford and Oakville
Ancient textiles series Vol. 11
Published by
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
© Oxbow Books and the individual authors, 2012
Ancient Textiles Series Editorial Commitee:
Eva Andersson Strand, Margarita Gleba,
Ulla Mannering and Marie-Louise Nosch
ISBN 978-1-84217-463-0
This book is available direct from:
Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK
(Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone])
and
The David Brown Book Company
PO Box 511, Oakville, CT 06779, USA
(Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone])
or from our website
www.oxbowbooks.com
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Textiles and textile production in Europe from prehistory to AD 400/edited by Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering.
-- 1st [edition].
pages cm -- (Ancient textiles series ; v. 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-84217-463-0
1. Textile fabrics, Prehistoric--Europe. 2. Textile fabrics, Medieval--Europe. 3. Textile industry--Europe--History. I.
Gleba, Margarita, editor of compilation. II. Mannering, Ulla, editor of compilation.
GN803.T49 2012
677.094--dc23
2011050185
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Short Run Press, Exeter
CONTENTS
Foreword ...............................................................................................................................................................................................v
Preface ..................................................................................................................................................................................................vi
List of Maps ......................................................................................................................................................................................viii
Introduction: Textile Preservation, Analysis and Technology ......................................................................................................1
Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering
Austria
1. Austria: Bronze and Iron Ages ................................................................................................................................................27
Karina Grömer
2. Austria: Roman Period ..............................................................................................................................................................65
Kordula Gostenčnik
Denmark
3. Denmark ......................................................................................................................................................................................91
Ulla Mannering, Margarita Gleba and Marianne Bloch Hansen
Germany
4. Germany: Bronze and Pre-Roman Iron Ages .....................................................................................................................122
Susan Möller-Wiering
5. Case Study: The Textiles from the Princely Burial at Eberdingen-Hochdorf, Germany .............................................139
Johanna Banck-Burgess
6. Germany: Roman Iron Age ....................................................................................................................................................153
Susan Möller-Wiering and Julian Subbert
Greece
7. Greece ........................................................................................................................................................................................185
†Youlie Spantidaki and Christophe Moulherat
Italy
8. Italy: Bronze Age ......................................................................................................................................................................203
Marta Bazzanella
9. Italy: Iron Age ...........................................................................................................................................................................215
Margarita Gleba
10. Case Study: The Textiles from Verucchio, Italy ..................................................................................................................242
Annemarie Stauffer
11. Case Study: The Tablet-Woven Borders of Verucchio ......................................................................................................254
Lise Ræder Knudsen
iv Contents
Latvia
12. Latvia ..........................................................................................................................................................................................266
Irita Zeiere
Norway
13. Norway .......................................................................................................................................................................................275
Sunniva Halvorsen
Poland
14. Poland .........................................................................................................................................................................................293
Jerzy Maik
Slovak and Czech Republics
15. Slovak and Czech Republics ...................................................................................................................................................306
Tereza Belanová-Štolcová
Spain
16. Spain ...........................................................................................................................................................................................334
Carmen Alfaro Giner
Sweden
17. Sweden .......................................................................................................................................................................................349
Mari-Louise Franzén, Amica Sundström, Eva Lundwall and Eva Andersson Strand
Switzerland
18. Switzerland: Neolithic Period .................................................................................................................................................367
Fabienne Médard
19. Switzerland: Bronze and Iron Ages .......................................................................................................................................378
Antoinette Rast-Eicher
Ukraine
20. Ukraine .......................................................................................................................................................................................399
Margarita Gleba and Tatjana Krupa
United Kingdom and Ireland
21. Scotland and Ireland ................................................................................................................................................................428
Elizabeth Wincott Heckett
22. England: Bronze and Iron Ages ............................................................................................................................................444
Dee DeRoche
23. England: Roman Period ..........................................................................................................................................................451
John Peter Wild
Index ..................................................................................................................................................................................................457
Foreword
Lotte Hedeager and Kristian Kristiansen
Over the last 10–15 years, textile studies have their production, distribution and consumption
moved from being a specialised niche at the during later prehistory. Compelling new
academic periphery towards the centre stage evidence from strontium isotope analyses of
of archaeological and historical research. textiles is now for the first time able to trace
This book, originating from the Danish the origin of textiles, and the first results from
National Research Foundation’s Centre for the well-known Huldremose woman’s dress,
Textile Research (CTR) at the SAXO Institute, a bog sacrifice from Denmark, demonstrate
University of Copenhagen is a testimony to that some of the materials for clothing and the
the sustained and systematic efforts behind woman probably originated outside Denmark.
such a development. Furthermore, it is a major New studies of textile technologies are also
contribution to the expanding field of textile increasing our understanding of the complexity
research, just as it adds yet another publication and sophistication of textile production in
to the Oxbow Ancient Textiles Series, which Europe from the Bronze Age onwards, when
has opened up the field to the non-specialist. wool production took over as the dominant
Beginning with the major synthesis ‘Ancient material, and subsequently changed the animal
Textiles: Production, Craft and Society’, which economy towards this new domain. We know
took the reader around all important aspects from the famous texts in ancient Anatolia of
of textile production and consumption in the how the Old Assyrian caravan trade during the
ancient world, as handed down through texts, 19th to 18th centuries BC was organised around
iconography and archaeological finds, this most the highly profitable trade in fine textiles, and
recent book addresses the archaeological traces it is now becoming increasingly evident that
of textile production and consumption during a major shift occured also in Europe, where
the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe. The new wool clothing encultured the Bronze Age
overview is systematically organised country body, and created an entirely new economic
by country, and each chapter is structured sector that persisted and expanded into the
according to the same plan, beginning with Iron Age.
chronology and cultural history and then The articles in this book not only provide an
moving on to a discussion of the archaeological overview of the evidence, but also summarise
evidence of textiles and their production. recent research. The editors and the authors
It will be an invaluable guide for the are to be congratulated for presenting such a
increasing number of archaeologists who major, systematic endeavour which will serve
understand the central role played by textiles, archaeological research in years to come.
Preface
This book had its genesis in 2007, when textile tools recovered from archaeological
the Danish National Research Foundation’s contexts. In addition, other evidence for the
Centre for Textile Research organised study of ancient textile production, ranging
the international conference “Textiles in from iconography to written sources to
Context” at the University of Copenhagen, palaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains
Denmark. A group of specialists from across are included. TThhee cchhrroonnoollooggiiccaall ppeerriioodd ccoovveerreedd
Europe were invited to bring their knowledge in the articles spans from the earliest prehistoric
of textiles and textile production from their finds to c. AD 400. In some cases however,
respective regions to Copenhagen in order the presented material ventures into slightly
to help place the unique Danish prehistoric later periods (e.g. Norway). In principle, the
textile and costume collections from the overviews stop at the time of the collapse of
Bronze and Early Iron Ages into a wider the Roman Empire since its aftermath brought
context. Since then, more colleagues have many new transformations to the social,
joined this project resulting in the present economic and ethnic organisation of Europe.
23 articles.. Textile technology, too, underwent drastic
The book is organised geographically changes in the following centuries eventually
by country since these are the modern culminating in the medieval textile industry.
boundaries within which most archaeological For most regions, the articles in this book
research is conducted today. Each section is provide the first synthetic overviews on the
accompanied by a map of the sites mentioned topic, and, in some cases, this information
and a chronological table for the region. has not been published earlier. For example,
Depending on the specialist knowledge, the the investigation of Greek textiles has only
material from the same region is in some begun in the recent years and iitt hhaass nnoott yyeett bbeeeenn
cases split up into several articles (e.g. Italy, possible to compare them to surviving tools
Germany, Austria, UK), while in others, two as well as written and iconographic evidence
countries are covered by the same article in a systematic manner. Likewise, mmoosstt ooff tthhee
(e.g. Czech and Slovak Republics, Ireland data on Ukrainian material has been unknown
and Scotland). In the case of particularly or inaccessible to western scholarship due to
important groups of finds, special case the linguistic barrier.
study articles are included (e.g. Verucchio and As editors, we have aimed at giving a
Eberdingen-Hochdorf). balanced picture of the presented data,
All chapters generally follow the same although the countries differ in size and nnoott
structure: introduction, chronological and all periods are equally represented for each
cultural background, and an overview of the country. Furthermore, tthhee qquuaannttiittyy,, kkiinndd aanndd
material in question oorrggaanniisseedd ccchhhrrrooonnnooolllooogggiiicccaaallllllyyy preservation of the recovered archaeological
and thematically. TThhee ssoouurrcceess ooff iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn material vary considerably throughout the
used by the authors are primarily textiles and European regions. Europe has almost all
Preface vii
types of textile preservation conditions, but European countries. A recent overview for the
they are not equally distributed throughout Netherlands was published by Sandra Comis
the continent. For example, the salt mines of (in L. Bender Jørgensen, J. Banck-Burgess and
Hallstatt have created a unique environment for A. Rast-Eicher (eds), Textilien aus Archäologie und
the preservation of textiles that were discarded Geschichte, 193–204, 2005), while a summary of
during their use in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Roman period textiles found on the territory of
Textile production is hence well represented France was published by SSoopphhiiee DDeessrroossiieerrss aanndd
in Austria for these periods, although most Alexandra Lorquin (in LL.. BBeennddeerr JJøørrggeennsseenn aaannnddd
of the preserved textiles are very fragmentary. C. Rinaldo (eds), Textiles in European Archaeology.
The deposition of clothed bodies in peat Report of the 6th NESAT symposium, 7–11th May
bogs in Early Iron Age Denmark has ensured 1996 in Borås, 53–72, 1998)..
the survival of a large corpus of textiles and This book would not have been possible
complete garments in this context, while without the help of numerous people. Marie-
textiles from graves are rare. The cremation Louise Nosch as director of the Danish
burial practice used during the Late Bronze National Research Foundation’s Centre
Age in Scandinavia has resulted in the virtual for Textile Research at the University of
absence of textiles from this period compared Copenhagen has provided the organisational
to the well-preserved costumes from the Early framework for the editing of the book. Cherine
Bronze Age oak coffin graves. Munkholt has assisted the editors during the
Another important factor is how and when proofreading and copyediting process. Vibe
this material was investigated. Scandinavian Maria Martens, Marianne Bloch Hansen,
countries and Germany, for example, have Peder Flemestad, Henriette Koefoed, Sidsel
long-standing traditions of textile scholarship, Frisch, Niels Møldrup Petersen, Sandra Holm,
while in Mediterranean Europe, particularly Egzona Haxha and Ingeborg Philipsen have
in Italy and Greece, the topic has only been helped with proof-reading, images, maps,
broached within the last decade. communications and numerous other tasks.
The authors have collected and systematised Joanne Cutler and Sergei Poliinn kkiinnddllyy pprroovviiddeedd
essential information on textiles and textile information on the archeological background
production from each country, resulting in an of Greece and Ukraine. Susanna Harris helped
up-to-date and detailed sourcebook and an with the introduction. Yevgeny Kokorin created
easily accessible overview of the development maps. SSyyllvviiaa MMiittsscchhkkee pprroovviiddeedd iimmaaggeess ffoorr tthhee
of European textile technology and economy chapters on Germany. Juliet Blackmore created
from prehistory to AD 400. It is our hope that the layout. We thank them all and the authors
this book will bring textiles to the attention of of the following chapters for their enthusiasm
a wider range of scholars. AAss nnoott aallll EEuurrooppeeaann and desire to participate in this pioneering
regions are covered in this book and, in the case endeavour. The project and the publication of
of some regions, the chronological coverage the volume have been financed by the Danish
is incomplete, we also hope that this book National Research Foundation with support
will inspire the writing of similar overviews from the Culture Programme of the European
of textiles and textile production in other Union DressID programme.

Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering
February 2011
List of Maps
Map 1.1. Austria Map 13.1. Norway
Map 3.1. Denmark Map 14.1. Poland
Map 4.1. Germany Map 15.1. Slovakia and Czech Republic
Map 6.1. Germany Map 16.1. Spain
Map 7.1. Greece Map 17.1. Sweden
Map 7.2. Greece, closeup of Attica Map 18.1. Switzerland
Map 8.1. Italy Map 20.1. Ukraine
Map 9.1. Italy Map 21.1. Scotland and Ireland
Map 12.1. Latvia Map 22.1. England
Introduction: Textile Preservation,
Analysis and Technology
Margarita Gleba and Ulla Mannering
Why Textiles?
Besides expressing our identity, textiles protect
Using DNA to trace the evolutionary split us from harsh environmental conditions,
between head and body lice, researchers whether as clothing or shelter. We use them
recently concluded that body lice evolved at birth for swaddling, in illness as bandages
from head lice approximately 190,000 years and at death as shrouds. We use them to
ago, pushing the time when human beings fi rst carry and contain people and things. We
began wearing clothing at least 100,000 years use them for subsistence to catch fi sh and
back (Bower 2010). While in those remote animals. We use them for transport as sails.
times clothing may have had a primarily Knowledge of textile history is hence the
utilitarian function and possibly permitted key to our understanding of a multitude of
the hominids to occupy climatic zones that human issues. In fact, textiles represent one
were previously inaccessible to them, soon of the earliest human craft technologies, and
garments became more than a mere secondary they have always been a fundamental part of
skin. Many of the famous ‘Venus’ fi gurines of subsistence, economy and exchange. Textiles
the Upper Palaeolithic (c. 27,000–20,000 years have an enormous potential in archaeological
before present) wear sophisticated elements research being able to inform us of social,
of clothing (Barber 1991, 40, 255–257; Soffer chronological and cultural aspects of ancient
et al. 2000b). The earliest textiles found thus societies.
far in the Czech Republic also date to the It is the aim of this book to make textile
Upper Palaeolithic and include “single ply, research a more user-friendly field for
multiple-ply, and braided cordage, knotted researchers working on the archaeology and
netting, plaited wicker-style basketry, and history of Europe by providing overviews of
a wide variety of non-heddle-loom-woven the extant material and sources of evidence
textiles, including simple and diagonal twined for specifi c regions. The following summary
pieces and plain woven and twilled objects” on textile preservation, analytical techniques
(Adovasio et al. 1996; Soffer et al. 2000a; 2000b, and production sequence should provide a
513). None of this clothing is of any use for background for the terminology and issues
either warmth or what we would call modesty; discussed in the various chapters.
rather it appears to have been intended to For the purposes of this book, we take a
communicate messages. broad defi nition of textile as “all the products
Ever since, textiles express who we are – our of textile techniques that consist of basic
gender, age, family affi liation, social, political, elements (thread or groups of threads) which
economic and legal status, occupation, religion have been interworked by mechanical means
and ethnicity (Schneider and Weiner 1989). to obtain the necessary coherence” (Seiler