Humans of the ancient world had to devote vast amounts of time and resources to the production of textiles such as clothing, bedding, ship’s sails, and beyond. In this course you will dive into the textile production techniques of the ancient Mediterranean, with units on fiber preparation, spinning, weaving, laundry, and non-clothing textiles. In addition, we will explore the social structures (especially gender) which influence and are influenced by textile production.
This course has a significant hands-on component. It will be approximately 50% engagement with scholarship and 50% studio work. That means that every week you will be participating in the processes that you are reading about. There are no required prerequisite courses or skills, but you must be ready and willing to try new things with your hands.
The evidence for ancient fiber production is varied, and so the scholarship portion of this class will involve work in the fields of classical philology, art history, and archaeology.
Goals
Identify and describe the major tools and processes used in textile production in the ancient Mediterranean.
Gain a personal working familiarity with drop spindles, cardboard looms, the warp-weighted loom, and felting and finishing woven textiles.
Produce a finished product which explores in detail one aspect of ancient textile production.
Gain proficiency in reading archaeological scholarship on the ancient world.
Schedule
Week
Day 1
Day 2
Assignments Due
Unit 1: Fiber
Week 1
Introduction, syllabus; How are clothes made?
The evidence for ancient textiles
Readings:
WW 12, pp. 286-300; TPCA Introduction, pp. xxii-xxvi; TPCA 1, pp. 1-8
Questions:
What are some difficulties in reconstructing the history of textiles?
What types of evidence are available to us?
How does gender impact the study of textile history?
How does geography impact the study of textile history?
What has changed between Barber (1994) and Spantidaki (2016)?
Exit ticket:
What are some major challenges in studying ancient textile production?
Week 2
Introduction to the processing of wool and flax
Readings:
PT 1, pp. 9-15, 20-30 (other portions optional); TPCA 3, pp. 19-28 (pp. 25-26 [dyestuffs] optional); TPCA 4, pp. 32-37
Questions:
What types of fibers are used for textiles?
What are differences between wool & flax?
What are the stages of fiber preparation for spinning? What tools are involved?
Exit ticket:
What is a question you still have about fiber preparation?
Or: What part of fiber preparation are you most interested in trying?
Studio: Combing wool, hackling flax
Unit 2: Spinning
Week 3
Introduction to drop spinning/the drop spindle
Readings: TPCA 4, pp. 37-47; PT 2, pg. 39-44, 51-70
Questions:
What is spinning? How does it work?
What tools are used for spinning thread? How do they differ depending on the period and area?
What evidence do we have to teach us about spinning?
What questions are you left with reading about the process without trying it or seeing it done?
Exit ticket:
How does a spindle make producing string easier/more efficient?
Studio: Drop spindle assembly; beginning wool spinning; 3D workshop
Response Paper #1
Week 4
The experimental archaeology of spinning
Readings: “New Research on Bronze Age Textile Production”; “Variables and Assumptions in Modern Interpretation of Ancient Spinning Technique and Technology Through Archaeological Experimentation”; “The Spinning Experiment: influences on yarn in spinning with a hand-spindle”
Questions:
What is experimental archaeology?
What methodologies do the experimenters in each article use?
What are the benefits to experimental techniques? What are the drawbacks?
What is the value of your own experience as a beginner spinner?
What do each of these sources tell us about the technical process of spinning?
Whose job was it to spin in Classical Athens?
What does skill in spinning imply about a person's character? How does this change based on their gender, class, and status?
How does understanding spinning help us understand each text?
Exit ticket:
What is one symbolic use of spinning in Greek literature?
Studio: Drop spinning; plying
Unit 3: Weaving
Week 6
Introduction to weaving: early looms, small looms, Egyptian ground-loom
Readings: WW pp. 39-41; PT 3, pp. 79-91, 113-125; TPCA 6, pp. 71-77
Questions:
Be able to define the following: weaving, warp, weft, loom, shed, heddle
How does a backstrap loom work? How does a ground-loom work? How does a vertical two-beam loom work?
What other methods of weaving are there, are what are they used for?
What techniques are still confusing to you? What would you like to try?
Exit ticket:
What is one question /confusion you have about the mechanics of weaving?
Studio: Cardboard loom warping and weaving
Response Paper #2
Week 7
The ancient Greek warp-weighted loom
Readings: PT 3, pp. 91-113; TPCA 5
Questions:
What is the warp-weighted loom? How does it differ from other loom types?
Be able to define: warp-weighted loom, loom-weights, shed bar, heddle bar, cloth bar/beam
How does the structure of the warp-weighted loom impact what kind of textiles are produced on it?
Exit ticket:
What is one weaving technique or loom type you are interested in trying?
Studio: Knitting heddles; weaving on the warp-weighted loom
Week 8
The decorative weaves; Penelope's funerary cloth; close readings of primary sources
Readings: PT 4; PT 16
Questions:
Be able to define: plain weave/tabby, basket weave, balanced weave, warp-faced, weft-faced, heading band, floats, twines, supplementary weft
How does Barber use her textile knowledge to enhance her reading of literary texts? How does she use the literary texts to advance her arguments about textiles?
What evidence do we have for decorative weaving patterns?
How was decorative weaving incorporated into Greek ritual and culture?
What sort of cloth is Penelope weaving, according to Barber?
Exit ticket:
How do we know that the ancient Greeks wove patterned textiles?
Studio: Finishing woven pieces; tablet weaving; weaving on the warp-weighted loom; decorative weaving