Session: #301

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
1. Artefacts, Buildings & Ecofacts
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
Exotic Fibres
Content:
From ancient times exotic fibres attracted people with their mysterious origin and fascinated with their different textures, colour, weight, or properties to warm or cool. Although textile production was usually based on locally accessible raw materials, which caused a strong regionalism in the development of textile technologies, the phenomenon of fibre trade is already known from early prehistory. Not only silk or cotton was desired and traded, but also special types of wool and other animal fleece.
The recent development of scientific methods in ancient textile research allows for more accurate analysis of fibres and better determination of their origin, opening the field for further research and discussion on the phenomenon of fibre trade and exchange.

We warmly welcome all papers addressing to the methodology of research and analyses of archaeological finds of exotic fibres and their context, as well as more interdisciplinary studies using archaeological, iconographic and written sources from diverse geographic and chronological contexts.
The main topics to be discussed in relation to exotic fibres include, but are not restricted to:
– How can they be determined in archaeological material?
– Are they recognisable in visual art, and how are they represented in iconography?
– How were they used, valued and perceived outside their place of origin?
– Was the influx of exotic fibres related to major geopolitical changes or specific people, and how did it influence local textile technology, economy and dress?
Keywords:
Textile archaeology, Fibres research, Trade and exchange
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:

Organisers

Main organiser:
Marta Zuchowska (Poland) 1
Co-organisers:
Astrid Klein (Germany) 2,3
Affiliations:
1. University of Warsaw, Faculty of Archaeology
2. Leipzig University
3. Research Centre „Buddhist Murals of Kucha on the Northern Silk Road“