The first plant bast fibre technology: identifying splicing in archaeological textiles

TLDR

Neolithic European plant bast fibre technology involved splicing fibers into threads rather than draft spinning. The study aims to enable specialists to differentiate spliced from draft‑spun plant fibre textiles by defining splicing types and proposing a method to observe, identify, and interpret spliced thread technology. The authors evaluate spliced yarn identification by examining textiles from Europe, Egypt, and the Near East, using a method that defines splicing types and provides observational criteria. The method shows that the transition from splicing to draft spinning occurred later than previously thought, reshaping interpretations of the chaîne opératoire and influencing social and economic reconstructions.

Abstract

Recent research into plant bast fibre technology points to a Neolithic European tradition of working fibres into threads by splicing, rather than draft spinning. The major issue now is the ability of textile specialists and archaeobotanists to distinguish the technology of splicing from draft-spun fibres. This paper defines the major types of splicing and proposes an explicit method to observe, identify and interpret spliced thread technology. The identification of spliced yarns is evaluated through the examination of textiles from Europe, Egypt and the Near East. Through the application of this method, we propose that the switch from splicing to draft spinning plant fibres occurred much later than previously thought. The ramifications of this shift in plant processing have profound implications for understanding the chaîne opératoire of this ubiquitous and time-consuming technology, which will have to be factored into social and economic reconstructions of the past.