Fibre choices and textile production in the Late Neolithic central Balkans

Abstract

In this presentation, we will provide an overview of various lines of evidence related to fibre and textile production during the Late Neolithic in the Central Balkans (Vinča culture, 5300–4500 BC). It will include a discussion on possible plant fibre sources, i.e. plants identified in charred archaeobotanical assemblages and as fibres, with special reference to flax (Linum usitatissimum). Another aspect of this presentation is related to the technologies of fibre and textile production. While the remains of textile are rarely found at Neolithic settlements in the Balkans, its production and use has been documented indirectly at the majority of them – in the form of spinning implements, loom weights, bone tools, textile impressions in pottery and clay objects. Such finds have been examined by different specialists as part of routine material and typological studies; however, comprehensive analysis of their use in spinning and weaving, making of clothes or any other related activity has been lacking. Recently, there has been a change in the analytical approach and an increase in the level of attention paid to different forms of evidence of textile production. As a result, the story of technological know-how of textile making in Vinča communities is slowly beginning to emerge. By summing up the available records and information, we will reconstruct the process of textile making – from procurement of fibre plants to the final product – in the Late Neolithic of the Central Balkans. This will allow us to assess the role of textile production in the socio-economic life of the Vinča communities, to infer how this activity shaped everyday life as well as how it contributed to the transfer of knowledge and social interactions.