14 research outputs found
Towards Methodological Principles for Experience Textile Archaeology. Experimental Approach to the Aegean Bronze Age Textile Techniques in the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Eksperimentalna arheologija često se koristi u istraživanju tekstila i tekstilne proizvodnje u pretpovijesti s ciljem da se objasne operativni aspekti proizvodnje tekstila i funkcionalnosti alatki za obradu tekstila, za proučavanje procesa oštećenja i propadanja tkanine, kao i za rekonstrukciju drevnih tekstila i odjeće. „Iskustvena tekstilna arheologija” jest termin kojim se opisuju ispitivanja i pokušaji eksperimentalnog karaktera koje provode osobe koje nisu vješti obrtnici kako bi se kroz vlastitu praksu upoznali s tehnikama proizvodnje tekstila. Iako je važnost iskustvene arheologije kao pedagoškog alata već prije prepoznata, iskustveni pristup rijetko stvara analogije koje bi se mogle dalje koristiti u akademskoj raspravi. Međutim, prema mišljenju autorice, iskustveni testovi i pokusi, ako su dobro pripremljeni, zabilježeni i provedeni kroz dulje razdoblje, također mogu doprinijeti povećanju znanja o tekstilnom obrtu prošlih društava. Autorica je predstavila metodološke principe koji se preporučuju za iskustvene aktivnosti, a odnose se na ispitivanja provedena uz pomoć studenata arheologije Sveučilišta u Varšavi.Experimental archaeology is commonly employed in the research on textiles and textile production in prehistory, in order to explain the operational aspects of textile manufacturing and the functionality of textile tools, to investigate fabric wear and decomposition processes, and to reconstruct ancient textiles and costumes. ‘Experience textile archaeology’ is a term which describes tests and trials of experiential character performed by actors who are not skilled craftspeople in order to get them acquainted with textile production techniques through practice. Although the importance of experience archaeology as a pedagogical tool has already been acknowledged, the experience approach rarely generates analogies that could be further exploited in the academic discourse. However, in the author’s opinion, experiential tests and trials, if well scheduled, documented and conducted over a longer period of time, may also contribute to improving the knowledge of textile craft of societies of the past. The methodological principles henceforth suggested for experience activities have been introduced by the author and concern tests conducted with students of archaeology at the University of Warsaw
Egejskie techniki tkackie w epoce brązu. Zastosowanie archeologii eksperymentalnej w badaniach nad włókiennictwem egejskim
Głównym celem rozprawy jest wszechstronna analiza technik tkackich w Egei przeprowadzona z wykorzystaniem wszelkich dostępnych źródeł (archeologicznych, ikonograficznych, pisanych) oraz archeologii eksperymentalnej, postrzeganej jako pełnoprawna metoda badawcza. Eksperymenty archeologiczne, choć nigdy nie mogą mieć waloru dowodowego, pozwalają na lepsze zrozumienie całego chaîne opératoire produkcji włókienniczej (łącznie z jej aspektami społecznymi) i udzielają odpowiedzi na wcześniej sformułowane pytania badawcze. W rozprawie wykorzystano wnioski płynące z testów przeprowadzanych przez autorkę i studentów w ramach zajęć „Tkactwo w basenie Morza Śródziemnego – odtwarzanie dawnych technik”, jakie odbywały się w Instytucie Archeologii UW w latach 2011-13
Wyodrębnione zostały dwa główne obszary o różniących się tradycjach włókienniczych: Egea północna obejmująca ląd grecki i północne wyspy Morza Egejskiego oraz Egea południowa z Kretą. Podkreślone zostały różnice w organizacji produkcji włókienniczej pomiędzy Kretą w okresie starszych i młodszych pałaców, a pałacami mykeńskimi. Analizie poddany został proces tkania na krośnie ciężarkowym, omówiono możliwość znajomości innych typów krosien oraz podjęto próbę ich identyfikacji w oparciu o materiał źródłowy.
Autorka omawia społeczny wymiar produkcji włókienniczej podkreślając znaczącą rolę kobiet zarówno w organizacji jak i w ponoszonych nakładach pracy, wysoką czasochłonność całego procesu technologicznego i związane z tym duże koszty ekonomiczne. Oszacowano czas pracy tkaczek oraz ich możliwy status społeczny. Przedstawiono szerokie spectrum użytkowania tkanin z zaznaczeniem symboliki związanej z samymi tkaninami i z tkactwem.
Krytycznej analizie poddano inne testy archeologii doświadczalnej, które odnoszą się do włókiennictwa egejskiego. Podważona została, zasugerowana w testach przeprowadzonych w CTR ramach programu Tools and Textiles – Test and Contexts, zasada ścisłego zawieszania ciężarków i wynikające z niej szacunki dla liczby ciężarków zawieszanych na krosnach w przeszłości.
Własne testy zostały szczegółowo opisane począwszy od wyboru odtwarzanych narzędzi, poprzez testowane techniki. Szczególnie uważnej obserwacji podlegały: czas nauki (nieporównywalny z przeszłością) oraz subiektywna ocena trudności i czasochłonności prac przygotowawczych w relacji do samego tkania i zakańczania tkanin. Dokumentacji podlegały także odczucia tkających dotyczące wymaganego skupienia przy poszczególnych pracach i poziomu satysfakcji.
Autorka wprowadziła system specjalnych kart dokumentacyjnych przygotowanych do opisu tkanin wykonywanych różnymi technikami. Poza cechami tkanin rejestrują one szczegółowo cechy narzędzi oraz subiektywne obserwacje eksperymentatorów. Wydaje się , że podjęta przez autorkę próba oszacowania, które elementy tkania wymagają relatywnie najmniejszego skupienia uwagi i wykonywane są mechanicznie przełożyć się może na ogląd pracy w przeszłości i odpowiedź na pytanie, czy tkactwo mogło być godzone z innymi obowiązkami, jak np. opieka nad dziećmi czy przygotowywanie posiłków.
Umiejętności zdobyte w wyniku testów, określane jako wiedza ciała (body knowledge) lub wiedza kinestetyczna (kinaesthetic knowledge), stanowią swego rodzaju opozycję w stosunku do wiedzy zdobywanej w oparciu o studia akademickie. Są one jednak nie mniej cenne. Dzięki nim dawne procesy produkcyjne stają się bardziej zrozumiałe, łatwiej o zdefiniowanie i odtworzenie właściwej kolejności poszczególnych sekwencji technicznych, a w końcowym efekcie możliwe jest spojrzenia na produkcję włókienniczą i techniki tkackie z perspektywy dawnego wytwórcy.It is generally acknowledged that textile production was one of the most important, if not the most important, sections of the Aegean Bronze Age economy. The Aegean textile production may be investigated thanks to many archaeological remains, like textile tools (mostly spindle whorls and loom weights), scanty pieces of textiles themselves and their pseudomorphs, reach iconography of clothes and – finally – surpassingly coherent archives of Linear B tablets. Ethnographical analogies and historical comparisons generate another important source of information. Experimental archaeology (designed to answer defined research questions) is used to clarify successive stages of the chaîne opératoire of textile production. However, experimental archaeology in the contemporary textile research, could be also applied as a method of analyzing social aspects of the textile production in the past. The main aim of my dissertation was to examine the Bronze Age Aegean weaving techniques using all available sources, with the special references to archaeological experiments. Some of the experiments were designed and performed in the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw.
The textile production in the Bronze Age Aegean has been analysed in many socio-economic aspects such as its organization and scale, work specialization and the degree of involvement of the society. The comparison between Northern and Southern Aegean shows deeper differences between the two regions than it was supposed before. Experimental archaeology is proved to be a valuable, explanatory tool in the research of the ancient textile production. Even experiments performed by non-experienced amateurs could give some more insights into questions concerning weaving as the work. A new, innovatory system of the documentation of experiments was established. The card system allows an individual’s progress in the speed and quality of weaving to be recorded, which is an important factor in the case of inexperienced weavers. The personal experience gained by the performers allows to achieve so called “kinaesthetic” or body knowledge of weaving, which helps him/her to adopt the perspective of a producer from the past
Technical and Technological Analyses of Excavated Textiles
Textiles are particularly complex and labor-intensive structures, thus their constructive elements, such as fibers and yarns, as well as the final textile products (e.g., threads, cords, fabrics, and applied decoration) reveal a range of important technical, technological, and sociocultural information. In this paper, we discuss the analysis of excavated textiles at two levels:
1) Technical analysis that offers basic information about the qualities of examined textile samples.
2) Technological analysis that provides insights into technology, social relations of production, and the level of craft specialization or production modes.
Both analyses offer new evidence for environmental resources, sustainability, trade, and exchange, as well as transfer of technical knowledge, innovations, and expertise. Yet, excavated textiles, being formed of organic materials, survive poorly in archaeological contexts and thus represent environmentally limited remnants of the original pattern of textile consumption. Additionally, excavated textiles are often recovered in minute fragments, altered due to post-depositional processes and, therefore, their analysis is usually challenging.
The scope of this paper is to provide an account of the current state of the technological analysis of excavated textiles looking back at its origins, and to offer a concise and clarified synopsis of the main methods and terms used to study and document the technological characteristics of excavated textiles
Bones for the Loom. Weaving Experiment with Astragali Weights
Kratki eksperiment tkanja održao se u Arheološkom muzeju u Zagrebu ne bi li se istražila funkcionalnost objavljenih astragala s Gomolave te raspravila njihova moguća upotreba kao utega za tkalački stan. Autorice su uspjele posuditi set od 15 astragala iz komparativne zbirke Zavoda za paleontologiju i geologiju kvartara HAZU u Zagrebu. Za napinjanje niti osnova tkanja iskorišteno je 14 astragala koji su postavljeni umjesto utega na vertikalni tkalački stan, konstruiran od strane Centra za eksperimentalnu arheologiju – CEKSA, u svrhu predstavljanja tehnika tkanja sudionicima i posjetiteljima radionice. Osnovna svrha pokusa bilo je testiranje moguće uporabe astragala, dok je dokumentiranje tkanja bilo stjecanje iskustva, s ciljem postavljanja određenih pitanja koja se odnose na proučavanje astragala. S obzirom na ograničenost vremenom, tijekom pokusa tkan je samo jedan komad tekstila. Petnaesti astragal poslužio je za jednostavan eksperiment namotavanja pređe.A short weaving experiment took place at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb in order to test the functional nature of the published astragali from Gomolava site as well as to determine and discuss their potential for use as loom-weights. Authors managed to borrow a set of 15 astragali from the Institute for Quaternary Paleontology and Geology in Zagreb. They warped 14 of them on a vertical loom, built by the Centre for Experimental Archaeology – CEKSA, in order to demonstrate weaving techniques to the participants and visitors of the workshop. The main purpose of the experiment was to test their potential functionality, while recording the weaving experience, in order to raise some particular questions that should be addressed in the prospective research on the astragali bones. Being limited by time, during the experiment only a single piece of textile was woven. The fifteenth astragalus bone was used for a simple spooling experiment
Innovative or Traditional? Diachronic Approach to Weaving Technology in Bronze Age Greece
This paper aims at recognising potential innovations in weaving technology that may have occurred in Bronze Age Greece. It discusses whether these assumed developments may be examined diachronically. This discussion is based on archaeological evidence of textile implements, such as loom weights and presumed traces of warp-weighted looms, as well as knowledge of traditional craft and experimental archaeology. After a short introduction discussing how technical innovations could possibly be recognised in weaving, the paper explores possible changes in the construction and functionality of the warp-weighted loom and potential uses of other types of looms in Greece. A distribution pattern of specific forms of a loom weight, e.g. discoid loom weights in particular, is examined as an innovation responding to the demand for fabrics of specific technical qualities and appearance, possibly associated with a spread of new weaving techniques which accompanied the transmission of these tools. Social relations and modes of organisation of textile production are considered factors that must have had a significant impact on creativity and innovativeness in weaving technology. However, the final conclusion is that specific relations between the organisation of weaving and the occurrence of innovative processes cannot be clearly recognised based on the available evidence
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The papers collected in the present volume of the ‘Światowit’ journal examine developments in textile production in Bronze and Iron Age Europe and the Mediterranean by tracing both traditional and innovative elements in textile technology. The issue comprises 11 original contributions that resulted from the session ‘Tradition and Innovation in Textile Technology in Bronze Age Europe and the Mediterranean’ organised in 2016 by Agata Ulanowska and Małgorzata Siennicka during the 22nd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Vilnius. The papers discuss available archaeological evidence of textiles, textile imprints, textile tools and textile iconography, as well as botanical and faunal remains related to textile manufacture and dyeing. The papers examine the types of social relations and cultural and economic processes which may have enhanced developments in textile technology and impacted on cross-cultural transmission of textile knowledge and skills in the Bronze and Iron Ages