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Textiles and Fabrics: Conservation and Preservation

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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

Introduction

A textile is a binary system of fibers or other materials worked into threads. In essence a textile is formed by weaving, but the term can also be used more generically and thus covers flexible products made in other techniques, as, for instance, twining, needle binding, knotting, and knitting. Felting and basketry are also techniques related to textiles. Thus, textiles can be seen as one part of an overall cloth culture, which may include many different materials and techniques (Harris 2012).

Around the world and throughout time, humans have created textiles by exploiting different natural resources and inventing tools and methodologies to change these resources into a viable product. Some areas are rich in traditional textile resources, like materials for fibers, dyes, and tools, but also in less resource plentiful areas, humans have found solutions for fulfilling the demand for textiles.

Definition

Until very recent times, textiles were primarily made from natural...

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References

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Further Reading

  • Banck-Burgess, J. 1999. Hochdorf IV, die Textilfunde aus dem späthallstattischen Fürstengrab von Eberdingen-Hochdorf (Kreis Ludwigsburg) und weitere Grabtextilien aus Hallstatt- und Latenezeitlichen Kulturgruppen. Stuttgart.

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  • Barber, E.J.W. 1991. Prehistoric textiles. The development of cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

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  • Bender Jørgensen, L. 1986. Forhistoriske textiler i Skandinavien. Prehistoric Scandinavian textiles (Nordiske Fortidsminder ser. B 9). Copenhagen: Det Kgl. Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.

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  • Hald, M. 1980. Ancient Danish textiles from bogs and burials. Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark.

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  • Tímár-Balázsy, A. & D. Eastop. 1998. Chemical principles of textile conservation. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.

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  • Walton, P. & G. Eastwood. 1983. A brief guide to the cataloguing of archaeological textiles. London: Institute of Archaeology Publications.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Danish National Research Foundation's Centre for Textile Research, The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Ulla Mannering

  2. Department of Conservation, The National Museum of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

    Irene Skals

Authors
  1. Ulla Mannering
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  2. Irene Skals
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ulla Mannering .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Mannering, U., Skals, I. (2014). Textiles and Fabrics: Conservation and Preservation. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_488

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_488

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