Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective : Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles by Agata Ulanowska

The?diverse developments in textile research of the last decade,?along with the increased recognition of the importance of textile studies in adjacent fields,?now?merit a dedicated, full-length publication?entitled?"Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective: Humanities and Natural Sciences Interwoven for our Understanding of Textiles".?With this?volume, the authors and the editors?wish to illustrate?to?the current impact of textile archaeology on the?scholarly?perception of the past?(not limited to archaeology?alone).?The volume?presents?new?insights into the consumption, meaning, use and re-use of textiles and dyes, all of which are topics of growing importance in textile research.?As indicated by the title, we demonstrate the continued importance of?interdisciplinarity?by?showcasing?several `interwoven' approaches to environmental and archaeological remains, textual and iconographic sources, archaeological experiments and ethnographic data,?from?a?large area?covering?Europe and the Mediterranean, Near East, Africa and Asia. The chronological span is deliberately wide, including materials?dating?from?c.?6th?millennium BCE to c.?mid-14th?century?CE. The volume is organised in four parts that aim to?reflect?the main areas of the textile research in 2020. After the two introductory chapters (Part I:?About?this Volume and?Textile Research?in 2020), follow two?chapters referring to dyes?and dyeing technology?in which analytical and material-based studies?are linked to contextual?sources?(Part II:?Interdisciplinarity?of Colour: Dye Analyses and Dyeing Technologies).?The six chapters of?Part III:?Interdisciplinary Approaches to Textile Tools?discuss textiles and textile production?starting from the?analyses of?tools,?whether?functional?or?as representative of technological developments or user identity. Archaeological and cultural contexts as well as textile traditions are the main topics?of?the?six chapters in?Part IV:?Traditions and Contexts: Fibres, Fabrics, Techniques, Uses and Meanings. The two?final?chapters?in?Part V: Digital Tools?refer to?the?use of digital tools in textile research, presenting?two different case studies.?
Binding: Hardback