The human past constitutes a vast repository of knowledge, experiences, and techniques. Through practice-oriented research and interpretation, such a historically rich repository can offer contemporary society unique insights into alternative modes of being, doing, and making. In this sense, it can be mobilised to foster critical and innovative thinking aimed at tackling contemporary global challenges. Among these, the transition to a sustainable economy lies at the forefront of current social and political concerns and initiatives. 

In this context, the environmental impact of the textile and fashion industries has come under increasing scrutiny. The textile sector is a major driving force of the European economy. EURATEX – The European Apparel and Textile Confederation estimates that the turnover of the textile and clothing industry in the European Union amounted to €170 billion in 2023, and national overviews conducted by EuroWeb highlight its economic importance, also as a major job creator across Europe. This economic impact is expected to increase in the short term, with projections from the Textile Exchange suggesting a growth of a third in global textile fibre production by 2030, up to 145 million tonnes.

However, this expanding economic importance of the textile and fashion sectors comes hand in hand with a growing awareness of the adverse environmental effects of current production and consumption patterns, based on intensive use of highly pollutant synthetic materials, on mass production predicated on a rapid turnover of products (“fast fashion”), and on an increasingly unmanageable production of waste, as highlighted in various reports by the European Environment Agency. The current textile industry accounts for 10% of the global CO2 emission and for 20% of the total water pollution. All these factors contribute to making textile production one of the most pollutant activities in Europe, only behind food, and mobility.

***

This awareness is reflected in a growing demand for sustainable products and brands, which in turn has fostered the development of specific sustainability standards and certifications for textile businesses, such as the Global Organic Textile Standard, the OEKO-TEX® Standard or European Union’s own Ecolabel.

Therefore, the textile and fashion sectors have more recently been at the front and centre of policies related to the European Green Transition, namely with the recent approval of the European Union’s Circular Economy Strategy (2020), which particularly highlights the textile sector as a target for transformative policies, and the subsequent presentation of its Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles (2022). The latter specifically maps out the twin goals of: a) developing, certifying and monitoring truly sustainable and responsible textile value chains; and b) shifting the consumption paradigm by enforcing principles of durability, reparability and recyclability.

This roadmap set out by the European Union amounts to a paradigm shift in textile production and consumption, one which will require substantial creative thinking in envisioning and implementing novel modes of making, using, caring for, and transforming textiles and clothing.

***

Luckily, research on heritage textiles and textile technologies, with its distinctive temporal, geographical, and cultural scope, is uniquely placed to harness the knowledge from past experiences providing practical insights on alternative materials and technologies, on diverse and environmentally adaptive ways of organising production and managing textile resources, as well as to serve as an inspiration for creativity and innovation.

The study of heritage textiles and techniques has developed remarkably in the past few decades, growing into a specialized field bringing together researchers from the Humanities/ Social Sciences and the Natural Sciences, as well as textile practitioners and creative industries. Insights generated through work in this field include, but are not limited to, an in-depth knowledge of:

a) a diverse array of natural products (especially fibres and dyestuffs), their development and patterns of exploration in the past;

b) the techniques employed to optimise their use;

c) the strategies deployed to manage the impact of agriculture and herding for fibre production along environmentally adaptive lines;

d) the value of good, responsible and creative artisanship in creating lasting, appealing, and prized textile products and garments;

e) an array of techniques, tools and skills for mending, re-tayloring, repairing, resizing and repurposing garments and textiles.

Online Resources for Responsible Fashion and Textile Consumers:

European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan

EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles

European Environment Agency – Resources and Documents on Textiles

European Parliament Briefing ‘Environmental impact of the textile and clothing industry. What consumers need to know.’

‘Sustain your Style’ Platform

• ‘Sustain your Style’ Fiber Eco-review

Textile Exchange (Nonprofit Organization)

• Textile Exchange Standards
  • Organic Content Standard
  • Recycled Claim Standard/ Global Recycled Standard
  • Responsible Wool Standard

Global Organic Textile Standard

EU Ecolabel

EURATEX Circular Economy Policy Dossiers

Ellen Macarthur Foundation – Resources and Documents on the Fashion Industry

Learn more about the Textile Industry and the economy of specific raw materials:

Alliance for European Flax-Linen and Hemp

European Wool Association

TCBL Association

• The European Cotton Website

European Cotton Alliance

Learn more about research on Textile Heritage and its social impact:

Textiles Working Group of the ICOM-CC

Centre for Textile Research (University of Copenhagen, DK)

European Textile Network (Haslach an der Mühl, DE)

Textile Research Centre (Leiden, NL)

Centre International d’Étude des Textiles Anciens (Lyon, FR)

MOIRES – Association pour l’étude et la valorisation des textiles en archéologie et en anthropologie sociale (FR)

ARTEX – Hellenic Centre for Research and Conservation of Archaeological Textiles (Athens, GR)

Full programme of the EuroWeb Digital Atlas hackathon – Southern Europe edition available here.

Workshop Program
September 25-27th, 2023, Romania

Monday, September 25th — Muzeul Textilelor, Building B, Băița, Hunedoara County

Monday sessions will be streamed live on the EuroWeb YouTube Channel.

9:00—Departure from Deva to Băița

Meeting points (Mercedes, white color, no. HD-02-PCB):

8:45 Hotel Wien;
9:00 in front of the Museum Civilizatiei Dacice si Romane

9:40-10:00am
Florica Zaharia and Irina Petroviciu: Welcome and Introduction

Part I
Moderator: Florica Zaharia

10:00-10:45am
Keynote speaker Erilda SELAJ: Albanian Traditional Garments and Textiles; an overview of their typology

10:45-11:05am
Enxhelina HARIZI: Weaving Fabrics in Northern Albania

11:05-11:25am
Coffee break

11:25-11:45am
Vassiliki NIKOLOVIENI: Sersigkas: The female dress of Missolonghi – Greece, 19th century

11:45-12:05pm
Gerasimoula Ioanna NIKOLOVIENI: Looking at the dynamic of Traditional Ecological Knowledge for the research and the exhibition of traditional textiles from modern Greece

12:05-12:25pm
Katrin KANIA: Medieval Women’s Headwear in Middle Europe

12:25-12:40pm
Florica MĂȚĂU: Craftspeople, artefacts, and institutions. The general picture of traditional textiles in the eastern part of nowadays Romania

12:40-1:00pm
Questions

1:00-2:15pm
Lunch at “La Dragus” (including transportation from and back to the event)

Part II
Moderator: Erilda SELAJ

2:30-3:10pm
Ana URSESCU: Chromatics within the Romanian household textile industry – recovery and revitalization

3:10-3:50pm
Irina PETROVICIU: Dyes in traditional textiles from Romanian collections

3:50-4:10pm
Florica ZAHARIA: The traditional woman’s blouse of Pădureni

4:10-4:30pm
Coffee break

4:30-4:45pm
Questions

4:45-5:15pm
Florica ZAHARIA: tour of the exhibition Visible Textile Heritages: Traditional Costumes from Romania and Japan at the Muzeul Textilelor

5:45pm—Departure for hotels in Deva

Tuesday, September 26th—Muzeul Textilelor, Building B, Băița, and Building C, Hărțăgani Hunedoara County
9:00—Departure from Deva to Băița (same meeting points, same hours)

9:30-10:30am Muzeul Textilelor, Building B, Băița
Viewing Romanian textile fibers selection
Viewing costumes from Romania and neighboring countries

10:30-10:50am
Coffee break

10:50-11:00am
Travel to Hărțăgani village

11:00-1:00pm
Florica ZAHARIA: Hemp fiber technology in the context of the traditional farm

1:00-2:15pm
Lunch at “La Dragus” (including transportation from and back to the event)

2:15-5:00pm
Ana URSESCU and Irina PETROVICIU: The colorful world of natural dyes (dyeing workshop based on local flora and recipes)

Festive dinner at the Building C/MT in Hărțăgani village

8:00pm Departure for Deva

Wednesday, September 27th—ASTRA Museum, Sibiu

10:00—Departure from Deva to Sibiu (same meeting points, 9:45 and 10:00)
12:00—Arriving in Sibiu ASTRA Museum

12:30-1:30
Free time, or participate in CApP Workshop 1: Textile and jewellery craftsmen techniques and mysteries, Part 1

1:30—2:30pm
Lunch at the ASTRA Center for Heritage or at the Hanul Tulgheș

2:30-4:00pm
Participants could attend Workshop 1: Textile and jewelry craftsmen techniques and mysteries, coord. Rodica Ispas, Elena Pascu, Maria Ciucă, Ioana Corduneanu & Victoria Geutskens, Part 2

4:15-6:00pm
Technical Guided Tour – The “ASTRA” Museum of the Traditional Folk Civilization – Open Air Museum

6:15-6:30pm —Departure for Deva or to hotels in Sibiu

Full programme available here.

Book of Abstracts available here.

EuroWeb, in collaboration with the Ecole française d’Athènes, the University of Florence and the INSTAP SCEC, is organising a one-week training school on hands-on approach to textile tools. The objective of the course is to familiarise trainees with the textile technology and, specifically, with the functionality of textile tools. The abundant archaeological evidence for textile production from the Bronze Age site of Malia on Crete is our case study. The training school offers short introductory lectures, hands-on learning, and experimental/experiential activities. The trainees will study and recreate Minoan textile tools, and will learn to spin and weave using them and how to document them.

Malia TS short programme

Online from Warsaw, on 7th of June 2023, 9:30–13:30 AM, CEST (with a break at 11:15–11:45).

The purpose of this mini-training school is to offer basic training in the use of Dino-Lite-type digital microscopes, as well as to establish a common protocol for analysing excavated textiles, textile imprints on clay and use-wear marks on textile tools, based on the best practices and knowledge of both participating trainers and trainees. Please see the link for the programme and registration details:

Mini-Training School in the Use of Dino-Lite_Type Digital Microscopes for Textile Analysis

All users of Dino-Lite microscopes are also kindly requested to complete the poll by 22nd May 2023: https://forms.gle/okFNrRj5sBbSE9qh9

We look forward to seeing you online!

The Organisers: Agata Ulanowska, Bela Dimova, Christina Margariti, and Magdalena Woźniak

Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body in Pre-Modern Societies

Lisbon (PT), 3-5 May 2023

Organizing Committee:

Francisco B. Gomes (PT), Audrey Gouy (FR), Elsa Yvanez (DK), Magdalena Wozniak (PL), Catarina Costeira (PT) & Louise Quillien (FR)

* * *

Recent archaeological and historical research has come to highlight a point that anthropological and ethnographic narratives have already long recognized: that bodies play a crucial role in the construction, display and negotiation of social, cultural, and individual identities. Theories of embodiment – a term that has become a true buzzword across the Social Sciences and the Humanities – have made substantial headway in these research fields, refocusing our understanding of past human experiences.

New interpretative frameworks have in fact arisen which depart from previous idealist frames of reference to ground those experiences on the materiality of the human body and the specificities of its engagement with the world around it. Embodied experience, practice and the role of the senses have come to the fore as cutting-edge topics of analysis, shedding new light on the role of the body as an identity locus and an arena for the negotiation of both social belonging and specific senses of the self.

Few components of the material world of past communities had a more intimate relationship with the body than textiles. Their very production reflects a set of defined gestures full of cultural meaning. Worn as garments, they protected and sheltered the body against the elements. As intricate elements, they also inspired people in the development of visual codes through which to project specific social and cultural messages, signalling either belonging or distinction.

They concealed and revealed, smoothed or enhanced, shaped and constrained, mapping onto the body a range of social and cultural meanings, norms and habits, which were at the core of individual socialization and collective culture-making. The way they were fashioned – for rest or movement, to enhance certain actions and bodily attributes and conceal others, to differentiate or homogenize – had tremendous cultural significance, shaping the socially conventional techniques of the body (sensu Mauss) individuals were expected to master. In this sense, they contributed to the creation of specific regimes of embodiment, while becoming a true social skin (sensu Turner) which acted as an interface between the self and society.

* * *

The International EuroWeb Workshop Making, Wearing, Displaying: Textiles and the Body in Pre-Modern Societies aims at exploring diverse bodily experiences of textiles and their socio-cultural significance through an interdisciplinary lens. We wish to bring together historical, archaeological, anthropological and bioanthropological perspectives to explore common topics of interest and the shared theoretical and methodological tools that can be deployed in present and future research on the relationship between textiles and the body.

In doing so, and based on the newest research and latest discoveries, the workshop aims at covering this topic in as broad a sense as possible, and will therefore be structured along four major thematic axes:

1. Thinking about the Body: Theoretical Tools from the Social Sciences, the Humanities, and Beyond

2. The Making Body: Capturing the Gestures of Craftspeople

3. Wearing Textiles: Insights from Archaeology, Iconography and Written Sources

4. Textiles in Motion: The Dressed Body in Movement

For each of these thematic axes, a panel of invited speakers will discuss specific topics and lines of research, introducing participants to current theoretical and methodological concepts and debates, and offering thought-provoking case studies aimed at fuelling a collective debate and reflection. The programme will also include practical sessions and visits to Museum exhibits relating to the topic of the workshop, to be announced soon.

Call for Papers:

The Organizing Committee is keen to open this debate to other voices, topics, and case studies, and is therefore happy to invite proposals for short presentations (c. 15 minutes) related to the workshop’s thematic scope. Prospective participants can approach the topic of the relationship between textiles and the body in pre-modern societies from any perspective – historical, archaeological, anthropological, or other – but interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome, as are presentations with a well-developed conceptual framework.

Proposals for short presentations at the workshop can be submitted by filling the form available here until the 31st of January 2023. The costs incurred by EuroWeb members selected to attend this workshop may be covered by the Action in accordance with COST reimbursement rules. Any questions about this call and the workshop in general can be sent by email to Francisco B. Gomes (franciscojbgomes@gmail.com).

Organization:

Bucharest, 17 – 19 May 2023

“War is the father of all things”, proclaimed Heraclitus of Ephesus in the late 6th century BC.

The main aim of this conference is to explore how appropriate this sentence is in the field of prehistoric and ancient textiles. While no definite answer should be expected in such a new interdisciplinary branch of study, the examination of a few key questions could lead us to a better general approximation of the influence that war had on the production, acquisition and consumption of textiles throughout millennia: what effects had the military needs on the social and economic systems of production and acquisition of textiles items? Did military developments trigger technical innovation in the field of textiles production? Did wars and conquests change textiles consumption habits?

While the answers to these questions should shed a new light on the history and archaeology of textiles in Europe and the Mediterranean, they will also contribute to one of the most neglected aspects of military logistics and technology in the prehistoric and ancient studies, which still lags behind the study of foodstuffs, metal items and payment in the military field.

Thus, we hope to bring together scholars with expertise on textiles, as well as on war and warfare in order to deepen the understanding on both fields through a joint endeavor.

We encourage the submission of abstracts of no more than 300 words, by the 31^st of December 2022, at textilesandwar@gmail.com, on the following indicative topics:

– From sails and ropes to tents and metal armor linings: written and unwritten evidence for textile items used by the military;

– Taxes, tributes, contracts or specialized workers? Systems of production and acquisition of garments and other textile items for the armies;

– Elite cloaks and standard uniforms: the military rank and status expressed through textile items;

– Economic and cultural effects of military campaigns in the field of textile acquisition and consumption.

ORGANISERS

Liviu Iancu (The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Bucharest)

Francesco Meo (The University of Salento)

CONFERENCE LANGUAGE

English

FEES

No fee is required for participation

VENUE

The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization

2A Boulevard Mareșal Constantin Prezan, 011452

Bucharest, ROMANIA

CONTACT INFORMATION

Liviu Iancu, Francesco Meo

textilesandwar@gmail.com

CONFERENCE WEBSITE

https://institutlevant.ro/en/textilesandwar

Interwoven Societies

The impact of textile industries on societies across European history

European Hansemuseum Lübeck

8th – 10th March 2023

Organizers: Angela Huang & Joana Sequeira

Textiles and their trade have long determined how people live together. Far-flung areas have been linked for centuries by trade in cloth. The textile industry is and has been a central factor in European economic development and had great impact on societies. The textile industry stands for market economy, innovation and prosperity, but also for dependency, unfair work and ecologic problems.

We invite participants to join our conference on Interwoven Societies from the 8th to 10th March 2023 in Lübeck, to explore the broader impact of textile industries on societies. Current debates about fair work and sustainability in a global economy very much centre around textiles, their production, marketing and trade – this conference wants to look further back in how textiles influence societies and their relationship to one another. We would like to bring together international researchers for an interdisciplinary conference between economic and social history, archaeology, art history and anthropology.

Specifically, we invite case studies on aspects as: Consumption via the market and trade; conspicuous consumption; the role of textiles in urbanization and specialization processes; technical and other innovations in production and trade (tools, institutions etc.); working conditions; the emergence and nature of ‘supply chains’; the quality of relationships between regions and continents; how the textile industry influences economic policies on a large scale (protectionism); the role of textiles in the growth and welfare of societies; establishment and enforcement of gender roles. Papers addressing other topics but contributing to the general interest of the conference are of course also welcome. Locating the case studies within a theoretical framework is encouraged to promote a comparative discussion.

The Research Centre for Hanse and Baltic History (FGHO) conducts and coordinates historical and interdisciplinary research on the German Hanse and related topics, in the former sphere of Hanse trade, stretching from Portugal to Russia. Therefore, we particularly invite papers on premodern Europe in a first age of commercialisation (14^th to 18^th c.). At this time major changes occurred in European societies: Trade picked up its pace, communication increased and private consumption accelerated – a proto-industry emerged. We aim at connecting the developments in the Hanse era and region to other textile economies.

The conference is part of the COST Action Group “EuroWeb – Europe through Textiles”, which aims to research textiles in an interdisciplinary and intersectional way, and is co-organized by Angela Huang (Research Centre for Hanse and Baltic History – European Hansemuseum) and Joana Sequeira (Lab2PT, University of Minho, Braga – Portugal). Interwoven Societies will take place in Lübeck, where at the same time the exhibition Good Stuff. Textile Worlds from the Hanse Era to the Present is on display at the European Hansemuseum and will be visited as part of the conference programme. We cover travel and accommodation costs (EuroWeb for its members; the Research Centre for further participants).

Thumbnail: Fabrics in the Bruges area of the Hansemuseum (© Olaf Malzahn).

PROGRAMME

Wednesday (08.03.)

10:00-10:30 Registration & Coffee | Introduction (for speakers)

10:30-13:00 Session I
Angela Huang (Research Centre of Hanse and Baltic History, Germany):
Interwoven Societies: How Textiles Shape Economic and Social Developments – Insights from Hanse History

Steffi Grundmann (Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany):
Spinning Housewives in the Roman Empire. A New Spin on Wool-Work and Domesticity in Modern Imaginations and Ancient Sources

Kapartziani, Chrysoula/ Koulocheris, Spyros (Harokopio University, Greece):
Back to the Future: “Cocooning” greek sericulture. The revival of a circular economy paradigm

13:00-14:00 Lunchbreak

14:00-15:30 Guided Tour through Special Exhibition „Good Stuff“ (for speakers)

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:30 Session II
Dörte Eriskat (Berlin Society for Indo-Asian Art, Germany):
How fustian connects us all and what is so “fustian” about it

Marco Tomaszewski (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany):
Interwoven Hinterland. Linen Industry and Society in Eastern Switzerland (St. Gallen/Appenzell, 15th to 17th centuries)

18:00 Option for Drinks & Dinner (for speakers)

Thursday (09.03.)

10:00-12:30 Session III
Joana Sequeira (Lab2PT, University of Minho, Portugal):
Consuming and supplying: Portugal in the international textile trade (13th-16th centuries)

Jorge Garrido (Universidad de Granada, Spain):
Transformations and change in textile production: the Nasrid kingdom of Granada and the Christian conquest (14th-16th centuries)

Ángel Rozas Español (Universidad Complutense, Spain):
Central Castilian draperies between 15th and 16th centuries. The transformation of a centralised manufacturing into a distributed manufacturing chain

12:30 – 14:00 Lunchbreak

14:00-15:30 Session IV
Orit Shamir (Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel):
Mulham Textiles (silk warp with hidden cotton wefts) – Their Innovation, Production, Consumption, Marketing and Trade [with Hadas Hirsch]

Georg Stark (Blaudruckerei Jever, Germany):
Designed in India, Excavated in Egypt and revived in Northern Europe: Continuity of human taste in printed textiles

15:30-16:00 Coffee Break

16:00-17:30 Session V
Luís Gonçalves Ferreira (Lab2PT, University of Minho, Portugal):
Paid with textiles and garments: the wages of the workers of Portuguese Misericórdias (16th-18th centuries)

João Teles e Cunha (Universidade Católica, Portugal):
Breaking the Fabric: The Portuguese Trade of Indian Textiles in the Beginning of the 17th Century

18:30-22:00 Conference Dinner (for speakers)

Friday (10.03.)

10:00-12:30 Session V I
Serafine Christine Kratzke (Lübeck, Germany):
“Mute communication” – Textiles as mediators of abstract ideas. Examples from the Convent of the Black Friars in Late Mediaeval Lübeck

Mordovin, Maxim (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary):
Textile consumption and purchase power in two early modern Hungarian towns

Meghan Korten (University of Iceland):
Conspicuous consumption? The role of woollen cloth in the construction of status in medieval Iceland

12:30-12:45 Coffee Break

12:45-13:30 Final Discussion

13:30-15:00 Final Lunch (optional, for speakers) I Goodbye

15:00-16:00 Meeting about conference publication (Raum “York”) (for speakers)

Programme – International EuroWeb Conference ‘Interwoven Societies’

POSTER – International EuroWeb Conference ‘Interwoven Societies’

Toponyms and loan words as textile labels across time. An EuroWeb seminar.

29^th June – 1^st July 2022

ON SITE @ ICS, University of Minho, Braga (Portugal)

Organisers:

Joana Sequeira, Lab2PT/INT2PAST, Universidade do Minho

Angela Huang, Research Centre for Hanse and Baltic History (at the European Hansemuseum Lübeck)

Textiles as man-made products have been exchanged over distances for millennia. This brings with it naming practices to communicate about the characteristics of the items in question. Textiles are labelled so that people can form expectations about them and rely on the reputation tied to the products identity. Terminology of textiles and textile items in exchange arises and develops in unison with technical innovations, discoveries, fashions and trade patterns.

There are two major naming practices we find over time and space: toponyms and loan words. Toponyms on the one hand refer to the place of production, purchase or trade; they connect textile items to places that guarantee a given quality. Toponyms stand for a wide range of characteristics: measurements, density, design, raw material, general product type and price – to name the most common ones. Some toponyms became widely known and inspired others to follow in their step: Leiden cloth, Arras, muslin (Mosul), damask and denim are famous examples that were imitated and became models.

Loan words on the other hand testify to fashion innovations that were widely adapted. In difference to toponyms, they also include clothing. Kimono and pyjamas are two well-known loan words present in today’s language. Loan words refer to cultural transfer of textile traditions.

We will discuss and discover the many meanings of toponyms and loan words in greater detail at our seminar, organised within the scope of WG3 (Textile and Clothing Terminologies Group) of EuroWeb COST Action (CA 19131). We are inviting case studies dealing with these kinds of textile labelling practices, from antiquity to the 20^th century. We are not limited to a given geographical area.

Specifically, we invite you to discuss:

• Brand/ branding strategies associated with the names of textile items
• Fakes/ imitations
• Adaptation and distortion of labels in different languages
• Meaning attached to toponyms and loanwords

The full programme of the Seminar is now available and can be consulted here.

“Archaeology and Archaeometry of Ancient Textiles: Analytical methods, conservation, and dissemination in textile research”
Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – Sapienza University of Rome

9th -10th of June 2022

Aula di Archeologia, Museo dell’Arte Classica, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia

For online participation via ZOOM, please register here:
https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=12586393

In recent years, the Department of Scienze dell’Antichità at the Sapienza University has carried out two main projects on Textile Archaeology: “Textile Culture at Pompeii” and “A3Tex. Archaeology and Archaeometry of Ancient Textiles. Continuity and Transformations of textile technologies in the Ancient and Post-Antique Mediterranean” (Sapienza Awards 2018) directed by Marco Galli. The research activities have been fueled by fruitful transdisciplinary cooperation with the Sapienza Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Biology, and SARAS, and, last but not least, with many other national and international Research Institutions, including the Directorate of Conservation at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, ISPC-CNR (Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale) and INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare), making the Sapienza A3Tex-Project a cutting-edge laboratory in the field of textile research.

The A3Tex INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP aims to present not only the ongoing projects carried out by Sapienza in textile studies but also to bring together scholars and researchers who are deeply involved in investigating archaeological textiles. The workshop seeks to provide a space for discussion of methodological approaches to, and future perspectives on, textile manufacturing in antiquity, as well as on diagnostic, first-aid conservation of textile and related materials.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid form, offering the opportunity to take part in person and to connect virtually with other meeting attendees. It will be possible to follow the event on YouTube live streaming.

With the aim of sharing the results of ongoing research, methodological approaches, and important case studies capable of underlining interdisciplinarity and innovation in textile research, the workshop will take place over two consecutive days with presentations from invited speakers on the following topics:

1. Value and potential of the study of textiles in the scholarly field of archaeology;
2. Excavation, recovery, and documentation of archaeological textile finds;
3. Microscopy techniques applied to the study of textile surfaces and fibers;
4. Archaeometric and diagnostic methods/techniques for the analysis of organic fabrics, fibers, and dyes;
5. Investigation of the state of conservation and restoration of archaeological fabrics;
6. Analysis of golden fabrics and threads;
7. Dissemination and exhibition of ancient textiles.

Interdisciplinarity is highly recommended; archaeologists specializing in different chronological periods, conservators, and material science specialists are invited to present data from their research.

The organizers,
Francesca Coletti, Marco Galli – Sapienza University of Rome
in partnership with
Christina Margariti, Sapienza Distinguished Visiting Scholar 2022 (Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports)
EuroWeb Europe through Textiles (CA 19131), organisation of online activities: Hana Lukesova, University of Bergen – Francisco Gomes UNIARQ, University of Lisbon.

For online participation via ZOOM, please register here:
https://skjemaker.app.uib.no/view.php?id=12586393

PROGRAMME:

Thursday, June 9 – Day 1
h. 13:00 – 19:00

1st Section
h. 13:00 – 15:40

13:00 – 13:45 Welcome Coffee time
Sala di Pergamo, Museo dell’Arte Classica, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia

13:45 – 13:55: Aula di Archeologia, Museo dell’Arte Classica.
Welcome/Opening Remarks and Workshop Overview
Marco Galli – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome.

Chairperson: Marco Galli

13:55 – 14:15
Textile Archaeology and Archaeometry at Sapienza: ongoing research and future perspectives
Marco Galli – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza University of Rome.
Francesca Coletti – Dipartimento di Storia Antropologia Religioni Arte Spettacolo (SARAS), Sapienza University of Rome.

14:15 – 14:35
Experimental archaeology and use-wear analysis in textile research: an overview of the investigations at LTFAPA Laboratory (Sapienza University)
Cristina Lemorini – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza, Director of the Laboratory of Technological and Functional Analyses of Prehistoric Artefacts (LTFAPA), Rome.
Vanessa Forte – Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: Archeologia Storia dell’Arte del Cinema e della Musica, University of Padua.

14:35 – 14:55
Scientific approaches applied to ancient textiles: research and analytics carried out by the Chemistry and Physics Departments of Sapienza
Alessandro Ciccola, Ilaria Serafini, Roberta Curini – Dipartimento di Chimica, Sapienza.
Alessandro Nucara, Paolo Postorino – Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza.
Francesca Coletti – Dipartimento SARAS, Sapienza.

14:55 – 15:15
Classical textiles from Attica: a collaboration project for the study, analysis, conservation, and display of archaeological textiles
Christina Margariti – Head of the Applied Research Department, Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens.
Stella Spantidaki – Director ARTEX, Hellenic Centre for Research and Conservation of Archaeological Textiles, Athens.
Marco Galli – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza.
Francesca Coletti – Dipartimento SARAS, Sapienza.

15:15 – 15:40: Discussion and Coffee Break

Short Presentation Session

2nd Section
h. 15:40 – 17:30

Chairperson: Christina Margariti

15:40 – 15:50
Identification of the protein components of animal-based metal threads by proteomics
Cristina Scibè – Art and Heritage Program at the University of Seville.
Caroline Solazzo – Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, Suitland.
Kira Eng-Wilmot – Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City.

15:50 – 16:00
Strontium isotope composition as a provenance indicator for Nabataean cotton textiles from Hegra
Saskia E. Ryan – Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements (AASPE, UMR 7209), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, UMR CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris.
Eric Douville, Arnaud Dapoigny – Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, UMR CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay.
Matthieu Lebon – Histoire naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Musée de l’Homme, Paris.
Patricia Dal Prà – Institut National du Patrimoine, Aubervilliers.
Laïla Nehmé – Orient & Méditerranée (UMR 8167), CNRS, Ivry sur Seine.

16:00 – 16:10
Well-travelled silks? Challenges in analysing the burial textiles of St Paulinus from Trier (†358)
Viola Costanza, Johanna Gerling, Sarah Harder, Anastasia Zitzer – CICS – Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences, Technische Hochschule Köln, Cologne.

16:10 – 16:20
The Conservation of Archaeological Textiles: Limits and Critical Issues
Cinzia Oliva – Conservazione e Restauro dei Beni Culturali – SUSCOR, University of Turin.

16:20 – 16:30
Fragments of archaeological textiles from excavations at Palmyra, Syria: analytical techniques in examining their state of preservation for display
Natalia Kallitsi – George Oikonomou Collection, Athens.
Stavroula Rapti – Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art, University of West Attica.

16:30 – 16:40
Imaging and analytical techniques to document, preserve, and analyze archaeological textiles collection and remains of king Tutankhamun
Islam Shahin – Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza.

16:40 – 16:50
L’intervento di recupero conservativo di un tessuto copto annodato e a “doppia faccia”: soluzioni per il consolidamento e per l’esposizione
Roberta Genta – Coordinatore Laboratorio Restauro Arazzi e Tessuti, Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale”, Turin.
Anna Piccirillo – Laboratori Scientifici del Centro Conservazione e Restauro “La Venaria Reale”, Turin.

16:50 – 17:10 Discussion

17:10 – 17:30: Coffee Break

3rd Section
h. 17:30 – 19.00

Chairperson: Maria Stella Busana

17:30 – 17:40
Early Neolithic fibre-based objects in Cueva De Los Murciélagos (Albuñol, Granada). Raw Material selection and processing
Maria Herrero-Otal – Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Ingrid Bertin – Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Anna Homs – Independent researcher.
Raquel Piqué Huerta – Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Francisco Martínez-Sevilla – Departamento de Historia y Filosofía, Universitat de Alcalá.

17:40 – 17:50
New evidence for textile production in Western Sicily: Motya
Nina Ferrante – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza.

17:50 – 18:00
Loom weights in the Ager Faliscus. Preliminary studies on Iron Age textile production in Falerii, Narce, Corchiano, and Vignanello
Federico di Salvo – Sapienza University of Rome.

18:00 – 18:10
(Re)discovering the textiles from the Roman ships of Nemi: preliminary observations
Francesca Coletti – Dipartimento SARAS, Sapienza.
Margarita Gleba – Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: Archeologia Storia dell’Arte del Cinema e della Musica, University of Padua.
Daniela De Angelis – Museo delle Navi Romane di Nemi, Nemi.

18:10 – 19:00 Discussion

Friday, June 10 – Day 2
9:30 – 17:30
1st Section
9:30 – 13.10

Aula di Archeologia, Museo dell’Arte Classica, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia

Chairperson: Francesca Coletti

9:30 – 9:50
Textile cultures of Mediterranean Europe 1000-500 BCE: archaeological evidence
Margarita Gleba – Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: Archeologia, Storia dell’Arte del Cinema e della Musica, University of Padua.

9:50 – 10:10
Textile in the Roman Venetia: the study of textile production throughout the investigation of textiles tools
Maria Stella Busana, Anna Rosa Tricomi – Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: Archeologia, Storia dell’Arte del Cinema e della Musica, University of Padua.

10:10 – 10:30
The origins, domestications, diffusions of cotton cultivation and products in the Old World
Charlène Bouchaud – CNRS, UMR 7209 – Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique. Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements CNRS/MNHN CP56, Paris.

10:30 – 10:50
The potential of textile traces: a multi-analytical approach to mineralised textiles and gold threads
Nicole Reifarth – CICS – Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences, Technische Hochschule Köln, Cologne.

10:50 – 11:10 Discussion

11:10 – 11:30: Coffee break

Chairperson: Margarita Gleba

11:30 – 11:50
Characterizing historical textiles and fibers with proteomics
Caroline Solazzo – Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, Suitland.

11:50 – 12:10
New perspectives for the identification of dyes and protein in archaeological remains through high resolution mass spectrometric analyses
Ilaria Serafini – Department of Chemistry, Sapienza – Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, Suitland.

12:10 – 12:30
The hunt for shellfish purple: diagnostic techniques and experimentations
Zvi C. Koren – Director, The Edelstein Center for the Analysis of Ancient Artifacts, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Ramat-Gan.

12:30 – 12:50
The application of microscopy and micro-CT scan for the study of textiles and fibres
Sanna Lipkin – Department of History, Culture and Communications, University of Oulu.

12:50 – 13:10: Discussion

13.10 – 14:45: Buffet Lunch, Sala di Pergamo, Museo dell’Arte Classica.

2nd Section
h. 14:45 – 15:45

Chairperson: Cristina Lemorini

14:45 – 15:05
Diagnostic techniques in conservation and restoration, non-invasive or micro-invasive analytical protocols. Best strategies and approaches in textile conservation.
Christina Margariti – Head of the Applied Research Department, Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Athens.

15:05 – 15:15
A World Without Textiles. Textile production of the Neolithic Communities in the western part of the Polish Lowland based on impressions on the pottery
Monika Kaczmarek – Archaeological Museum of the Middle Odra River Area, University of Zielona Góra.

15:15 – 15.25
Public (textile) archaeology. Sharing experiences with special target audience
Romina Laurito – Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, Roma.
Sonia Tucci, Massimo Masussi – Associazione Culturale Paleoes – eXperimentalTech ArcheoDrome.

15:25 – 15:45
Interdisciplinary research and dissemination concepts. Case study: Clothing remains between 2000 BCE and 1000 CE
Karina Grömer – Head of the Department of Prehistory, Natur-historisches Museum Wien, Vienna.

15:45- 16:15: Discussion and Coffee Break

Short Presentation Session
3rd Section
h. 16.15 – 17:30

Chairpersons: Francesca Coletti, Marco Galli

16:15 – 16:25
Echoes of Textiles in Ancient Mosaic Production
Max Victor David – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza.

16:25 – 16:35
Textiles and Painting in Early Islamic Iraq
Michelina Di Cesare – Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza.

16:35 – 16:45
Shellfish purple dye: contemporary practices and archaeological evidence in Central and South America
Camilla Fratini – Dipartimento SARAS, Sapienza.

16:45 – 16:55
Hybrid materiality: a feathered textile from Mesoamerica
Valeria Bellomia – Dipartimento SARAS, Sapienza.

16:55 – 17:30
Final discussion and closing remarks

The workshop presentation can be downloaded HERE.

The full programme is available for download HERE.