Smooth and cool or warm and soft, investigating the properties of cloth in prehistory

Abstract

‘Studies of materiality cannot simply focus upon the characteristics of objects but must engage in the dialectic of people and things’ (Meskell 2005,4). A number of researchers have looked at the significance of the properties of cloth to understand their suitability to environment and function. This research is a good basis and has potential to be developed further. In this paper I investigate the physical, chemical and aesthetic properties of linen, wool and lime bast fibres and knotless netting, woven textiles and twining as fibres and cloth structures that were used to make cloth from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Alpine region of Europe. Through these results I look at examples of how these cloth types may have been used and valued in these societies.