Textile-Making in Central Tyrrhenian Italy from the Final Bronze Age to the Republican Period

This is a study on textile production in central Tyrrhenian Italy from the final Bronze Age to the Republican period. Textile production is studied here through its technological, social and economic aspects. Textiles and their making were important parts of all fields of life in ancient Italy. Textiles and textile implements are found from settlement sites, burials, votive deposits and sanctuaries. The differences between the finds from different contexts through time point out the changes in material culture related to textile-making. The changes in the materials also indicate the change from household production of textiles to a workshop mode of production and specialisation, and later the development of slave involvement. Through the scope of this study one learns that textile production went through the introduction of many new technologies. This book presents new insights on the importance of textile-making in the ancient society and economy. The question of the importance of textile-making is approached through different angles concerning age, gender, ethnicity, social status, profession and religion, and in so doing a new insight on the multifaceted identity of textile makers and their social status is built.