International Conference “Textile Production, Consumption and Trade in Iron Age Europe”
International Conference
Textile Production, Consumption and Trade in Iron Age Europe
19-20 May 2022 – Muro Leccese (Italy)
Organised by Working Group 4, open to all the WGs
Organisers: Francesco Meo and Francisco B. Gomes
Textile production is one of the main cultural, economic, and social components of any ancient society. The study of textile tools and their uses in the different stages of textile manufacture, as well as of the fabrics themselves, has led to a deeper understanding of the production processes involved and of the social and cultural choices underlying textile production, leading to a growing interest on the subject of ancient textile production, consumption, and trade.
For millennia, most households produced cloth on a small scale for their own consumption. The social changes brought about during the early first millennium BC heralded the development of an increasingly specialized luxury and surplus textile production on a larger scale.
The Iron Age is therefore a key period for the understanding of textile techniques and technologies. As these are often culture-specific, this conference aims at exploring textile production, consumption, and trade in the different European Iron Age societies in order to compare them and develop an integrated panorama of Iron Age textile cultures and their interactions.
In more detail, the conference will focus on several aspects:
- how the different phases of textile production were articulated during the Iron Age societies;
- if there were technical and technological innovation in some societies and in which context they originated;
- if and how the products change and in which geographical and social contexts;
- how textile production was regulated;
- if there are evidences of textile trade and how it was structured;
- and if there are suitable theoretical frameworks to compare data from so many different cultures in the same period.
The Conference will take place in person in Muro Leccese, but those who are unable to attend can still follow the proceedings through Zoom.
PROGRAMME
DAY 1 – 19 MAY 2022
SESSION 1
10.00-10.30 OPENING & WELCOME
10.30-11.15 Iron Age Textile Cultures of Mediterranean Europe: technology, tradition, aesthetics and identity
Margarita Gleba (University of Padua, Italy)
11.15-11.30 DISCUSSION
11.30-12.00 COFFEE BREAK
12.00-12.45 Textile production in the Aegean, c. 1100–500 BC: change, regionalism, and comparisons with neighbouring areas
Bela Dimova (British School at Athens)
12.45-13.00 DISCUSSION
13.00 LUNCH
15.00-17.00 EUROWEB MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING – Prince’s Palace, Muro Leccese
DAY 2 – 20 MAY 2022
SESSION 2
10:00-10.30 From Economy to Identity: Towards an Integrated Approach to Textile Production and Consumption in the Iron Age of Southern Portugal
Francisco B. Gomes & Íris Dias (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
10.30-10.50 Threads of Change: Textile Production during the Early Iron Age in Eastern Iberia
Ricardo Basso Rial (University of Alicante, Spain)
10.50-11.10 DISCUSSION
11.10-11.40 COFFEE BREAK
11:40-12.00 Weaving techniques and social aspects in Iron Age settlements of Southern Italy
Francesco Meo (University of Salento, Italy)
12.00-12.20 Textile Production, Consumption and Trade in Iron Age in Smelting Sites at Timna, Israel
Orit Shamir (Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel), Vanessa Workman (Tel Aviv University, Israel), Naama Sukenik (Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel) and Erez Ben-Yosef (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
12.20-12.40 DISCUSSION
12:40 LUNCH
SESSION 3
14:00-14.45 A period of innovation – textile techniques in the 1st millennium BCE in Central Europe
Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum of Vienna, Austria)
14.45-15.00 DISCUSSION
15.00-15.30 COFFEE BREAK
15.30-15.50 Two Early Iron Age warp-weighted looms at the site of Kaptol, Croatia
Julia K. Fileš Kramberger (Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia)
15:50-16.10 Influences of the Roman Empire on the Textile Economy during the Roman Period in Poland
Magdalena Przymorska-Sztuczka (Archaeological Museum in Biskupin, Poland)
16:10-16.30 DISCUSSION
16:30 CLOSING OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
***
The full programme of the Ancient Fashion Week at Muro Leccese (16th – 20th of May) can be found here.
International Conference
Textile Production, Consumption and Trade in Iron Age Europe
19-20 May 2022 – Muro Leccese (Italy)
Organised by Working Group 4, open to all the WGs
Organisers: Francesco Meo and Francisco B. Gomes
Textile production is one of the main cultural, economic, and social components of any ancient society. The study of textile tools and their uses in the different stages of textile manufacture, as well as of the fabrics themselves, has led to a deeper understanding of the production processes involved and of the social and cultural choices underlying textile production, leading to a growing interest on the subject of ancient textile production, consumption, and trade.
For millennia, most households produced cloth on a small scale for their own consumption. The social changes brought about during the early first millennium BC heralded the development of an increasingly specialized luxury and surplus textile production on a larger scale.
The Iron Age is therefore a key period for the understanding of textile techniques and technologies. As these are often culture-specific, this conference aims at exploring textile production, consumption, and trade in the different European Iron Age societies in order to compare them and develop an integrated panorama of Iron Age textile cultures and their interactions.
In more detail, the conference will focus on several aspects:
- how the different phases of textile production were articulated during the Iron Age societies;
- if there were technical and technological innovation in some societies and in which context they originated;
- if and how the products change and in which geographical and social contexts;
- how textile production was regulated;
- if there are evidences of textile trade and how it was structured;
- and if there are suitable theoretical frameworks to compare data from so many different cultures in the same period.
The Conference will take place in person in Muro Leccese, but those who are unable to attend can still follow the proceedings through Zoom.
PROGRAMME
DAY 1 – 19 MAY 2022
SESSION 1
10.00-10.30 OPENING & WELCOME
10.30-11.15 Iron Age Textile Cultures of Mediterranean Europe: technology, tradition, aesthetics and identity
Margarita Gleba (University of Padua, Italy)
11.15-11.30 DISCUSSION
11.30-12.00 COFFEE BREAK
12.00-12.45 Textile production in the Aegean, c. 1100–500 BC: change, regionalism, and comparisons with neighbouring areas
Bela Dimova (British School at Athens)
12.45-13.00 DISCUSSION
13.00 LUNCH
15.00-17.00 EUROWEB MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING – Prince’s Palace, Muro Leccese
DAY 2 – 20 MAY 2022
SESSION 2
10:00-10.30 From Economy to Identity: Towards an Integrated Approach to Textile Production and Consumption in the Iron Age of Southern Portugal
Francisco B. Gomes & Íris Dias (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
10.30-10.50 Threads of Change: Textile Production during the Early Iron Age in Eastern Iberia
Ricardo Basso Rial (University of Alicante, Spain)
10.50-11.10 DISCUSSION
11.10-11.40 COFFEE BREAK
11:40-12.00 Weaving techniques and social aspects in Iron Age settlements of Southern Italy
Francesco Meo (University of Salento, Italy)
12.00-12.20 Textile Production, Consumption and Trade in Iron Age in Smelting Sites at Timna, Israel
Orit Shamir (Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel), Vanessa Workman (Tel Aviv University, Israel), Naama Sukenik (Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel) and Erez Ben-Yosef (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
12.20-12.40 DISCUSSION
12:40 LUNCH
SESSION 3
14:00-14.45 A period of innovation – textile techniques in the 1st millennium BCE in Central Europe
Karina Grömer (Natural History Museum of Vienna, Austria)
14.45-15.00 DISCUSSION
15.00-15.30 COFFEE BREAK
15.30-15.50 Two Early Iron Age warp-weighted looms at the site of Kaptol, Croatia
Julia K. Fileš Kramberger (Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia)
15:50-16.10 Influences of the Roman Empire on the Textile Economy during the Roman Period in Poland
Magdalena Przymorska-Sztuczka (Archaeological Museum in Biskupin, Poland)
16:10-16.30 DISCUSSION
16:30 CLOSING OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
***
The full programme of the Ancient Fashion Week at Muro Leccese (16th – 20th of May) can be found here.