Ancient Landscapes of Textile Production – Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Textile production requires physical labour and raw materials, which demand land for sheep grazing and the large-scale cultivation of textile crops. This conference aims to demonstrate the value and importance of interdisciplinary research, showing how its approach can reveal the economic, social and cultural impact of textiles and textile production. Building on results from the interdisciplinary project Textile Resources in Viking Age Landscapes (TRiVAL, 2022–2026, funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark), we initiate a new discussion on the topic with interdisciplinary perspectives across different time periods.

The conference will bring together experts from a wide range of research fields, including textile research, archaeology, ancient history, history, digital archaeology, biomolecular science, biology, and osteology, enabling them to join forces and share knowledge.

The conference will discuss and demonstrate how landscape analysis of textile resources, through interdisciplinary methods and the analyses of textiles, textile tools, and contextual investigations can provide new and important insights into the variation, organisation, and impact of textile production in ancient societies.