Etruscans Now
Ceramics, Technology and Workshop Production
Click here to return to list of papers
Margarita Gleba -
Textile Production in Protohistoric Italy
In the proposed paper, I will examine certain aspects of textile production in Villanovan and early Etruscan Italy. Since textiles survive in Italy only under special circumstances, I am approaching the topic through the study of implements associated with the textile manufacture (spindle whorls, loom weights, "spools", needles, etc.).
The period covered by my study (10th through the 7th century) is the time of development from small villages of mostly egalitarian type, to large urban centers with social stratification and specialized production. Organization of production intensified significantly during these centuries, as did exchange throughout and beyond the Italic sphere. Unlike many other specialized crafts that appeared in Italy during this period, textile production is considered only superficially, if at all, in most studies of the period and or craft specialization. Since textile manufacture was practised on all levels of society and was the most labor-intensive of all occupations, it was an industry of great cultural and economic importance and has to be considered in order to make a balanced assessment of the ancient economy. Some aspects of the economic role of the textile craft in Italic society can be reconstructed by means of a study of the implements used for textile manufacture, such as loom weights and spindle whorls. A study of the number, distribution, and morphology of these and other implements provides information about technology and scale of production, as well as the raw materials and the final products.
My goal, is thus, to examine how textile technology relates to such important concepts as urbanization, craft specialization, gender, trade, and agricultural and cultural development in Italy during the protohistoric period.