The first plant bast fibre technology: identifying splicing in archaeological textiles

Gleba, M. and Harris, S. (2019) The first plant bast fibre technology: identifying splicing in archaeological textiles. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11(5), pp. 2329-2346. (doi: 10.1007/s12520-018-0677-8)

Abstract

Recent research into plant bast fibre technology points to a Neolithic European tradition of working fibres into threads by splicing, rather than draft spinning. The major issue now is the ability of textile specialists and archaeobotanists to distinguish the technology of splicing from draft spun fibres. This paper defines the major types of splicing and proposes a method to observe, identify and interpret spliced thread technology. The identification of spliced yarns is evaluated through the examination of textiles from Europe, Egypt and the Near East. Through the application of this method we propose that the switch from splicing to draft spinning plant fibres occurred much later than previously thought. The ramifications of this shift in plant processing has profound implications for understanding the chaîne opératoire of this ubiquitous and time-consuming technology.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013-312603), and was carried out within the scope of the project Production and Consumption: Textile Economy and Urbanisation in Mediterranean Europe 1000-500 BCE (PROCON).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Harris, Dr Susanna
• Authors: Gleba, M., and Harris, S.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Archaeology
• Journal Name: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• ISSN: 1866-9557
• ISSN (Online): 1866-9565
• Published Online: 25 July 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11:2329
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license