This special interest day is comprised of three lectures covering The Cultural History of Textiles. The three lectures cover spinning, weaving and knitting. The talks are: 1. ‘She spun well:’ Roman Women, Sheep, and Wool in the Classical world This talk is a discussion of the symbolism of spinning and wool in the Classical world, with an emphasis on Roman women and the household. We’ll consider where spinning and wool fit into popular myths and how this reflects the importance of sheep, wool, and spinning in the general economy. The main part of the discussion looks at spinning as women’s work, and the significance of spinning and household economy – not only the practicalities of the task, but also the symbolism of spinning (and weaving) as representative of domestic harmony. 2. Myths, fairytales, and sagas: Spinning & Weaving in the Ancient and Medieval World By the time of the Greeks and Romans or the Norse or medieval people of Europe people had been spinning and weaving for so long, the origins of the practices were long forgot. There were no instructions or handbooks. You learned by doing, from childhood – it is not something generally written about in the formal histories of these periods because these histories were written by aristocratic men for aristocractic men, usually on statehood and politics, and how to be a good political leader or a military hero. Textile work, for the most part, was women’s work, slave work – an absolute necessity, and something that drove the economy, politics, laws – but not something necessarily written about as part of history. Its written sources and records come from stories, songs, poetry – if not economic records and the skant remains in the archaeological record – textiles generally do not survive in the long term except in exceptional circumstances, as plant matter and animal skin and fur and fleece is organic, and subject to fire, vermin, decay. This talk considers stories and tales about spinning and weaving from Classical myth, Norse saga, and medieval (European) fairytales – and what meaning might be found folded into these stories, how they were used, and what they tell us about society in general. In addition to the usual Q & A, there may be a demonstration of the tools similar to what would have been used for spinning and weaving in the Roman and medieval period. Keywords: myths, mythology, fairytales, folklore, spinning, weaving, wool, flax, women, Greek history, Roman history, Middle Ages 3. In the Loop: a Cultural History of Knitting This talk considers fabric making with yarn 'with loops' - that is a look at Nalbinding and Knitting. We start with Nalbinding, which predates written history, and discuss the various stitches and small object found and made from this type of textile work from the Neolithic through to the 20th century, and its cousin knitting. Knitting comes along later from the Middle East to Europe in the 12th century, and we'll look at earliest examples and representation of knitting in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The practical and social elements of these 'small works' will be folded into the discussion. |