Programme & Abstracts :: Registration Details :: Accommodation

THE CLOTHED BODY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
17-19 January 2002

R Martorelli
Cagliari

Clothes and textile industry in Early Christian Age

Clothes and clothing industry in Early Christian Age are subjects often disregarded by scholars, perhaps discouraged because of the shortage of objects (in fact dress- mate-rial is easily perishable) and of the simplicity of clothes, that generally haven't any metal object, in a different way from clothes of Byzantine and Early Middle Age.

So, this paper intends to analyze archaeological evidence in relation both to clothes and to weaving, particularly in Italy until the beginning of the VII Century.

Many pictures in roman catacombs, sarcophagi and - later - mosaics in churches show that the most usual dress among ancient Christians is a cotton or linen tunica, covered by a mantel ('pallio' for men, 'palla' for women and 'dalmatica' for rich people), some- times precious, but without belt. In any case there are caps, travelling-mantels and so on. Especially we can see jewels as earrings, rings, bracelets, necklaces (for instance in Naples catacombs).

So, ancient Christians use first of all linen or cotton cloth, but also wool, seldom silk and purple dress, generally for imperial high officials clothes. They were produced in so called fullonicae (textile workshops), in which there were the hole cycle of textile production from raw materials to cloth.

The manufacturing process is well known from ancient writers and nowadays recent archaeological discoveries have bring up to the light many establishments with washing and dyeing vats (fullonicae). It's a kind of domestic activity, that took place near domus and villae, but we know also public establishments (for instance in Florence, in Italy) and imperial workshops (for purple clothes).

The fullonicae had a complex organization, with specialized artisans. Sepolcral plates name many sutores (tailors), siricarii (who cut and sew the silk) and so on.

Cloth in ancient Christian world was not a little problem. Even if dress was simple, the Fathers of the Church and then bishops and priests recommended to be morigerate and to dress sober clothes, in accordance with christian ideas. In fact we can read many rules issued about this subject in the acts written after Church councils.

At the end we can come to the conclusion that cloth and textile industry are a very inte-resting way to know ancient Christians and their uses. More often early Christian world is analyzed in its public and religious aspects, disregarding a social point of view, but we can never forget that ancient Christians lived in the Roman World and practiced the same activities of pagan people. Its very interesting and very important know how the new religion influenced their social uses and daily life.