Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, with Special Reference to the Aegean

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Linguistic Society of America is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Language. Prehistoric textiles: The development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, with special reference to the Aegean. By E. J. W. BARBER. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. Pp. xxxi, 471. Reviewed by DOUGLAS Q. ADAMS, University of IdahoBy anyone's reckoning this is an exciting, indeed exemplary, work. Its chronological sweep includes roughly the last seven millennia before Christ, its geographical coverage includes Europe, the Near East, and Egypt. Intellectually it brings together archaeology, linguistics, and a practical knowledge of textiles and their weaving, plaiting, felting, etc. It is profusely illustrated and very well written. Readers of this journal will be most interested in Barber's use of linguistic data in this vast panorama. Any reader, who is bound to be a neophyte in one or more of the areas covered, is brought along easily and educated as he or she goes. The wealth of material treated can be gauged by the titles of the various chapters: 'The domestication of fibers' (9-38); 'Spinning' (39-78); 'Looms and weaving' (79-125); 'The textile weaves: The beginnings' (126-144); 'The textile weaves: Egypt' (145-62); 'The textile weaves: The Bronze Age' (163-185); 'The textile weaves: The Iron Age' (186-209); 'The textile weaves: An overall view' (210-214); 'Felt and felting' (215-222); 'Dyes' (223-43); 'Beginnings revisited' (249-59); 'Word excavation' (260-82); 'Women's work' (283-98); 'The weight chase' (299-310); 'Minoans, Myceneans, and Keftiu' (311-57); 'And Penelope?' (358-82). Since textiles are rare in the archaeological record, preserved only under exceptional circumstances, the basic data for reconstructing the prehistory of textile manufacture and use is slim, and new accessions of data are rare ( since the book's publication we have had the discoveries of both the Iceman of Tyrol and the Xinjiang mummies-a truly exceptional outpouring of new data). From this scant data B has woven a rich tapestry that is a 'must read' for a wide audience of archaeologists and (pre-)historians, including historical linguists.In two places B's argument turns more or less exclusively linguistic: in an appendix to Ch. 1, labeled 'The archeolinguistics of hemp' and in Ch. 12, 'Word excavation'. In the first she tackles the well-known set of words that mean 'hemp' in various Indo-European languages: Lith kanapes, OPrus knapios, Rus konopljd, OE hwnep, ON hampr, German Hanf, Latin cannabis, Greek kannabis, Sanskrit sana-. Similar forms occur in non-Indo-European languages as well, e.g. Turkish kenevir, Karakalpak kenep, and Cheremis kenelkine. Even OHALA, JOHN....

Spinning and Weaving as Ancient Egyptian Inherited Crafts

“…After the flowers have faded, the seed heads appear, and the plants are ready to be harvested (Warden 2005). Through trial and error, the ancient Egyptians learned that harvesting the crop at different stages of ripeness resulted in different kinds of fibre (Barber, 1991). When the flax stem was green, the soft fibre could be spun into the finest thread; when it was yellow, the stronger fibre could be woven into ropes and mats; and when it was brown, the tough fibre could be woven into ropes and mats ‫.…”

“…4.1 Ancient Egypt: It is clear from both texts and depictions that the vast majority of women were the backbone of textile production. The main reason seems to be that the easily interruptible work of spinning and weaving could be done at home (Barber, 1991). Based on artistic evidence, it appears that men were most frequently involved in the cultivation and harvesting of flax and the preparation of the fibers for spinning (Roehrig, 1996).…”

Mors Naviculam: The Globalization of Canadian Fashion through Trade, Policy and Regulation

“…Material culture research seeks to re-inscribe value to the knowledge contained within fashion objects, thereby asserting the vital importance of objects as they are standard bearers of the truth of a situation (Matthews David 2015; Mida & Kim 2015;Wilson 2003;Slater 1998;Steele 1998;Miller 1995Miller , 1987Appadurai 1988;Prown 1982;Fleming 1974). The tactile, physical, individual and unique examples of garments and their uses can be utilized as an object of in-depth analysis to reveal factual data that disproves normative histories (Barber 2000(Barber , 1995(Barber , 1991, and as the "production of commodities is also a cultural and cognitive process" (Kopytoff 1986, 64), objects can also be used break down stereotypes, and challenge the formation of hegemonic narratives, both historical and in contemporaneity.…”

“…It is a challenge to examine the fashionable engagement with the majority of the population, because outside of the "one silk dress" (Brett 1967) that was coveted and kept, their garments were not deemed valuable enough to their original owners for subsequent bequeathal to a museum setting where researchers could eventually have access to them-or even to be kept intact. Also, outside of very specific (and fortuitous) circumstances (Barber 2000(Barber , 1995(Barber , 1991 ancient textile and garments (Canadian or otherwise) just do not last: they rot, they decay, they are eaten by insects. As all pre-modern textiles were derived from organic origins, they are all just as readily subsumed back into their eco-systems; where they then cultivate and nurture subsequent generations.…”

La Tessitura a Mozia: Nuove Evidenze

“…79 Barber 1991;Spantidaki 2014, 37;Gleba 2021, 15. 80 È stato ipotizzato l'uso della tessitura a tavolette per alcuni siti siciliani, adoperando rocchetti o pesi da telaio molto leggeri per tendere i fili di ordito.…”