Textiles in Ancient Mediterranean Iconography

Textiles in Ancient Mediterranean Iconography
Author: Susanna Harris
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2022-02-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789257220

This volume provides an ambitious synopsis of the complex, colourful world of textiles in ancient Mediterranean iconography. A wealth of information on ancient textiles is available from depictions such as sculpture, vase painting, figurines, reliefs and mosaics. Commonly represented in clothing, textiles are also present in furnishings and through the processes of textile production. The challenge for anyone analysing ancient iconography is determining how we interpret what we see. As preserved textiles rarely survive in comparable forms, we must consider the extent to which representations of textiles reflect reality, and critically evaluate the sources. Images are not simple replicas or photographs of reality. Instead, iconography draws on select elements from the surrounding world that were recognisable to the ancient audience, and reveal the perceptions, ideologies, and ideas of the society in which they were produced. Through examining the durable evidence, this anthology reveals the ephemeral world of textiles and their integral role in the daily life, cult and economy of the ancient Mediterranean.

Textiles and Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean

Textiles and Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean
Author: Cecilie Brøns
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 597
Release: 2017-07-31
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 178570673X

Twenty-four experts from the fields of Ancient History, Semitic philology, Assyriology, Classical Archaeology, and Classical Philology come together in this volume to explore the role of textiles in ancient religion in Greece, Italy, The Levant and the Near East. Recent scholarship has illustrated how textiles played a large and very important role in the ancient Mediterranean sanctuaries. In Greece, the so-called temple inventories testify to the use of textiles as votive offerings, in particular to female divinities. Furthermore, in several cults, textiles were used to dress the images of different deities. Textiles played an important role in the dress of priests and priestesses, who often wore specific garments designated by particular colours. Clothing regulations in order to enter or participate in certain rituals from several Greek sanctuaries also testify to the importance of dress of ordinary visitors. Textiles were used for the furnishings of the temples, for example in the form of curtains, draperies, wall-hangings, sun-shields, and carpets. This illustrates how the sanctuaries were potential major consumers of textiles; nevertheless, this particular topic has so far not received much attention in modern scholarship. Furthermore, our knowledge of where the textiles consumed in the sanctuaries came from, where they were produced, and by who is extremely limited. Textiles and Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean examines the topics of textile production in sanctuaries, the use of textiles as votive offerings and ritual dress using epigraphy, literary sources, iconography and the archaeological material itself.

Handbook of Natural Colorants

Handbook of Natural Colorants
Author: Thomas Bechtold
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 693
Release: 2023-06-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1119811716

Handbook of Natural Colorants Second Edition A detailed survey of a variety of natural colorants and their different applications including textiles, polymers, and cosmetics Colorants describe a wide range of materials such as dyes, pigments, inks, paint, or chemicals, which are used in small quantities but play an important role in many products such as textiles, polymers, food, and cosmetics. As the effects of climate change begin to be felt, there has been a shift in focus in the field to renewable resources and sustainability, and an interest in the replacement of oil-based products with greener substitutions. As the push to adopt natural resources grows, there have been significant developments in the research and application of natural colorants as a step in the transition to a bio-based economy. The second edition of Handbook of Natural Colorants provides a detailed introduction to natural colorants in a marriage of theory and practice, from seed of plant to consumer demand. Presenting a wide range of viewpoints, the book briefly discusses the history of coloration technology and the current position of natural colorants before highlighting detailed information on regional plant source availability, colorant production and properties, as well as analytical methods for isolation, identification, and toxicity aspects. It also presents key applications in technical use and consumer products, including the use of natural colorants in textiles, hair dyeing, printing, and packaging. Finally, the text considers environmental and economic aspects of natural colorants. Handbook of Natural Colorants is a useful reference for dyers, textile producers, and researchers in the evolving field of sustainable chemistry, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, and polymer sciences. Revised and updated content throughout to reflect developments in research and applications over the past decade New content on biotechnology in natural colorant production, natural colorants for mass coloration polymers, natural colorants in printing/packaging, and plant-based pigments Discusses strategies for scale-up, including consideration of energy, waste, and effluents For more information on the Wiley Series in Renewable Resources, visit www.wiley.com/go/rrs

Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Author: Liza Cleland
Publisher: British Archaeological Reports Oxford Limited
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2004
Genre: Art
ISBN:

As historical scholarship increasingly attends not just to text, but to context, the consideration of colour - as an aspect of the material, artistic, literary, linguistic and conceptual cultures of antiquity - provides a valuable path of approach to our evidence. This evidence demands, and responds to, many different methodological approaches. The papers represented in this volume of proceedings, based on an international conference held at Edinburgh University in 2001, thus reveal a multiplicity of different ways of seeing, studying and defining colour in antiquity. They bring together researchers working on different cultures and periods, but also different areas of colour research: the technological and archaeological study of painting and dyeing; the manifestations and meanings of colour in visual art; and the inter-related fields of the semiosis and symbolism of colour in literature, and the colour terms and categorisation of ancient languages.

Housing in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Housing in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Author: J. A. Baird
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 519
Release: 2022-07-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 110896043X

One of the greatest benefits of studying the ancient Greek and Roman past is the ability to utilise different forms of evidence, in particular both written and archaeological sources. The contributors to this volume employ this evidence to examine ancient housing, and what might be learned of identities, families, and societies, but they also use it as a methodological locus from which to interrogate the complex relationship between different types of sources. Chapters range from the recreation of the house as it was conceived in Homeric poetry, to the decipherment of a painted Greek lekythos to build up a picture of household activities, to the conjuring of the sensorial experience of a house in Pompeii. Together, they present a rich tapestry which demonstrates what can be gained for our understanding of ancient housing from examining the interplay between the words of ancient texts and the walls of archaeological evidence.

Exploring Ancient Textiles

Exploring Ancient Textiles
Author: Alistair Dickey
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 452
Release: 2022-07-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1789257263

Over the past 30 years, research on archaeological textiles has developed into an important field of scientific study. It has greatly benefited from interdisciplinary approaches, which combine the application of advanced technological knowledge to ethnographic, textual and experimental investigations. In exploring textiles and textile processing (such as production and exchange) in ancient societies, archaeologists with different types and quality of data have shared their knowledge, thus contributing to well-established methodology. In this book, the papers highlight how researchers have been challenged to adapt or modify these traditional and more recently developed analytical methods to enable extraction of comparable data from often recalcitrant assemblages. Furthermore, they have applied new perspectives and approaches to extend the focus on less investigated aspects and artefacts. The chapters embrace a broad geographical and chronological area, ranging from South America and Europe to Africa, and from the 11th millennium BC to the 1st millennium AD. Methodological considerations are explored through the medium of three different themes focusing on tools, textiles and fibres, and culture and identity. This volume constitutes a reflection on the status of current methodology and its applicability within the wider textile field. Moreover, it drives forward the methodological debates around textile research to generate new and stimulating conversations about the future of textile archaeology.