Final Report Summary - FIBRE (Textile fibre in Italy before Roman Empire)
Throughout history, textile manufacture was practiced on all levels of society and was one of the most labour intensive of all occupations. As such, it was an industry of great cultural and social importance and should be factored into any balanced assessment of the ancient economy. This includes not only processes such as spinning and weaving but the entire operational sequence of textile production, particularly the acquisition of raw materials. After all, textile quality and appearance are dependent on the material of which the textile has been made, i.e. on fibre. Fibre investigation, hence, is more than just identification of material source. By studying fibre on a microscopic and even molecular level we can come closer to understanding issues of selective breeding and cultivation, processing of fibres and their wear.
The FIBRE project investigated the development and use of textile fibres in Italy from prehistory to the Roman period through an integrated study of archaeological textiles, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data, as well as of ancient written and iconographic sources. The specific objectives of the FIBRE project were:
1. to elucidate endogenous developments of textile fibres in ancient Italy and their spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area;
2. to evaluate the old and develop new fibre analytical methods and ways of interpreting the obtained data;
3. to integrate fibre studies into interdisciplinary research of broader archaeological interest.
Ancient literary sources indicated that, by the beginning of the Common Era, different qualities of wool and flax were available to Roman consumers and many of the best fibres were produced in Italy, from where they spread throughout the Roman Empire in the form of sheep, raw materials or finished textiles. The standardisation of fibre observed during the Roman period reflected a long period of evolution, based on the selection and development of processing technologies.
The systematic collection of data and analysis of over 60 fibre samples obtained from archaeological textiles found in Italy and dating from the middle Bronze Age, circa 1 600 BC, to the Roman period, i.e. 1st century AC, suggested that major changes in textile fibre development took place in the Apennine peninsula sometime around the turn from the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Flax plants became taller and their fibres became slightly thicker as well as more uniform and therefore less susceptible to breaking, allowing for more industrialised forms of processing. The changes in sheep fleece demonstrated the development of primitive wool with very fine underwool and very coarse kemps, as well as the progressive disappearance of kemps and the evolution of slightly coarser but much more uniform fleeces, as demonstrated by the average fibre diameter and range. The fibre analysis along with the palaeoproteomic data also suggested that, during the first millennium BC, several distinct wool qualities coexisted, possibly reflecting the use of several sheep breeds for fibre acquisition.
The methodology of wool fibre quality analysis was reviewed, concluding that, while the measurement method was sound, a much more nuanced approach in the interpretation would allow for a finer classification of prehistoric wools. A recently developed fibre provenancing method of strontium isotopic tracing was applied to the Italian archaeological material for the first time. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis and the newly developed palaeoproteomics approach were applied to the selected set of samples. These methods not only served as independent checks of species identification but also promised to be useful in addressing the questions of specific sheep breeds and, consequently, fibre and textile qualities, particularly when correlated with wool fibre analysis.
Changes in wool production were also archaeologically traced through sheep bone assemblages, whose analysis pointed towards an increasing importance of ovicaprids from the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Even more significant were the mortality data which indicated that, starting in the early Iron Age, sheep were increasingly kept for wool, as shown by the large number of old animals that were present in the assemblages. The increase in sheep bone percentages correlated with the large numbers of textile tools found on settlement sites in pre-Roman Italy and with their standardisation, corresponding to the intensification of textile making activities and a demand for the appropriate equipment.
The project demonstrated the potential of archaeological fibre for the investigation of ancient economy, technology and agriculture and for answering some of the fundamental questions of archaeology, where evidence for textiles and fibres was hitherto virtually unexplored. Thus, changes in textile fibres of ancient Italy illustrated important developments in sheep domestication and breeding, which could not be gleaned from other sources, and revealed the socioeconomic impact of textile raw materials. The fact that these changes happened during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age pointed to the development of new or more effective production processes, standardisation and manufacture of objects for specific purposes. These changes also corresponded to the development of highly stratified societies and large urban centres, which created a demand for organised and specialised production of goods. The qualitative changes in textile production were also reflected in the development of better raw materials, which allowed for faster processing and production, as well as for more complex techniques and patterns. The integration of fibre data obtained during the FIBRE project with information published for other European areas, e.g. Greece, Austria and Switzerland, indicated that, even though similarities existed, fibre evolution in Italy followed its own path.
Further information regarding the project could be provided via the http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/staff/gleba(opens in new window) website or through emailing m.gleba@ucl.as.uk.
The FIBRE project investigated the development and use of textile fibres in Italy from prehistory to the Roman period through an integrated study of archaeological textiles, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical data, as well as of ancient written and iconographic sources. The specific objectives of the FIBRE project were:
1. to elucidate endogenous developments of textile fibres in ancient Italy and their spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area;
2. to evaluate the old and develop new fibre analytical methods and ways of interpreting the obtained data;
3. to integrate fibre studies into interdisciplinary research of broader archaeological interest.
Ancient literary sources indicated that, by the beginning of the Common Era, different qualities of wool and flax were available to Roman consumers and many of the best fibres were produced in Italy, from where they spread throughout the Roman Empire in the form of sheep, raw materials or finished textiles. The standardisation of fibre observed during the Roman period reflected a long period of evolution, based on the selection and development of processing technologies.
The systematic collection of data and analysis of over 60 fibre samples obtained from archaeological textiles found in Italy and dating from the middle Bronze Age, circa 1 600 BC, to the Roman period, i.e. 1st century AC, suggested that major changes in textile fibre development took place in the Apennine peninsula sometime around the turn from the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Flax plants became taller and their fibres became slightly thicker as well as more uniform and therefore less susceptible to breaking, allowing for more industrialised forms of processing. The changes in sheep fleece demonstrated the development of primitive wool with very fine underwool and very coarse kemps, as well as the progressive disappearance of kemps and the evolution of slightly coarser but much more uniform fleeces, as demonstrated by the average fibre diameter and range. The fibre analysis along with the palaeoproteomic data also suggested that, during the first millennium BC, several distinct wool qualities coexisted, possibly reflecting the use of several sheep breeds for fibre acquisition.
The methodology of wool fibre quality analysis was reviewed, concluding that, while the measurement method was sound, a much more nuanced approach in the interpretation would allow for a finer classification of prehistoric wools. A recently developed fibre provenancing method of strontium isotopic tracing was applied to the Italian archaeological material for the first time. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis and the newly developed palaeoproteomics approach were applied to the selected set of samples. These methods not only served as independent checks of species identification but also promised to be useful in addressing the questions of specific sheep breeds and, consequently, fibre and textile qualities, particularly when correlated with wool fibre analysis.
Changes in wool production were also archaeologically traced through sheep bone assemblages, whose analysis pointed towards an increasing importance of ovicaprids from the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. Even more significant were the mortality data which indicated that, starting in the early Iron Age, sheep were increasingly kept for wool, as shown by the large number of old animals that were present in the assemblages. The increase in sheep bone percentages correlated with the large numbers of textile tools found on settlement sites in pre-Roman Italy and with their standardisation, corresponding to the intensification of textile making activities and a demand for the appropriate equipment.
The project demonstrated the potential of archaeological fibre for the investigation of ancient economy, technology and agriculture and for answering some of the fundamental questions of archaeology, where evidence for textiles and fibres was hitherto virtually unexplored. Thus, changes in textile fibres of ancient Italy illustrated important developments in sheep domestication and breeding, which could not be gleaned from other sources, and revealed the socioeconomic impact of textile raw materials. The fact that these changes happened during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age pointed to the development of new or more effective production processes, standardisation and manufacture of objects for specific purposes. These changes also corresponded to the development of highly stratified societies and large urban centres, which created a demand for organised and specialised production of goods. The qualitative changes in textile production were also reflected in the development of better raw materials, which allowed for faster processing and production, as well as for more complex techniques and patterns. The integration of fibre data obtained during the FIBRE project with information published for other European areas, e.g. Greece, Austria and Switzerland, indicated that, even though similarities existed, fibre evolution in Italy followed its own path.
Further information regarding the project could be provided via the http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/people/staff/gleba(opens in new window) website or through emailing m.gleba@ucl.as.uk.