Textile Production in Pre-Roman Italy
Margarita Gleba
Die Textilproduktion war ein wichter Motor der sozialen und
ökonomischen Entwicklung. Die Autorin behandelt hier
schwerpunktmäßig den Zeitraum der ausgehenden Bronzezeit bis etwa
400 vor Chr.
Older than both ceramics and metallurgy, textile production is a
technology which reveals much about prehistoric social and economic
development. This book examines the archaeological evidence for
textile production in Italy from the transition between the Bronze
Age and Early Iron Ages until the Roman expansion (1000-400 BCE),
and sheds light on both the process of technological development
and the emergence of large urban centres with specialised crafts.
Margarita Gleba begins with an overview of the prehistoric
Appennine peninsula, which featured cultures such as the
Villanovans and the Etruscans, and was connected through
colonisation and trade with the other parts of the Mediterranean.
She then focuses on the textiles themselves: their appearance in
written and iconographic sources, the fibres and dyes employed, how
they were produced and what they were used for: we learn, for
instance, of the linen used in sails and rigging on Etruscan ships,
and of the complex looms needed to produce twill. Featuring a
comprehensive analysis of textiles remains and textile tools from
the period, the book recovers information about funerary ritual,
the sexual differentiation of labour (the spinners and weavers were
usually women) and the important role the exchange of luxury
textiles played in the emergence of an elite. Textile production
played a part in ancient Italian society's change from an
egalitarian to an aristocratic social structure, and in the
emergence of complex urban communities.
Format 19 x 25 cm, Hardcover, 280 Seiten, s/w Abbildungen, engl.
Text
Best.-Nr. Ox010