VISIBLE TOOLS, INVISIBLE CRAFT - AN ANALYSIS OF TEXTILE TOOLS ACROSS THE IRON AGE SOUTHCOAST
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-16

Author(s): Ferrero, Lewis (University of Cambridge)

Identifying differences in textile production between Iron Age settlements and regions may provide an insight into craft production and organization, textile’s possible role in trade and economy (Gleba et al. 2013), as well as the degree of craft specialisation in the settlements and the population at large. In economic terms, splitting the stages of textile production between settlements (as suggested at Danebury) could be an effective way of controlling raw resources and their production into commodities of prestige value, display, or exchange (Champion et al. 1984: 207-209). It may be possible to discover if certain stages of textile production (i.e.: fibre preparation, spinning, etc.) were universal domestic activities by examining where textile tools are found, both in context of their original sites and the distribution of tool types between sites (DeRoche 1991: 24-25). Here I will present my data and analysis of the tools from Iron Age Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, West Essex, East Essex, and Kent. I will use tool dimensions and weights to compare tool manufacture between sites (as well as possible effects these had on the textile they produced) and mapping tool locations to determine potential craft organisation.