In the latest released episode of Dr. Ester Salgarella’s podcast series, Aegean Connections, Marie Louise Nosch, Professor of ancient history at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, relates the significance of textiles and their production and commerce in the Bronze Age palatial societies of the Mediterranean. She does this by discussing how the reading and analysis of Linear B, the ancient script of the Mycenaean civilization, has revealed a surprising amount of information about the making, trade distribution, business and value of textiles as a prominent part of the economies of societies of the time.
“Textile production was the fuel of the Bronze Age economy”, says Nosch in the podcast interview.
Indeed, at least among the elite in the even earlier Minoan cities like Knossos in Crete and Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, the evidence for the sophistication and importance of textiles for clothing was clearly illustrated in the magnificent frescoes known today among the archaeological remains and collections of those sites.
Nosch also elaborates how Linear B texts have described in detail the stages of textile production, as well as the remarkable standardization and fixed cycles that defined broadly applied expectations in the world of textiles of the Mediterranean Bronze Age.
Readers can listen to much more about this in the newly released, free podcast, Texts and Textiles: reconstructing Mycenaean textile production through Linear B.
___________________________
Cover Image, Top Left: Wall painting from the House of the Ladies in Akrotiri. An iconic example of the sophisticated and artful style of clothing made possible by the mastery and production of textiles during the Bronze Age.
___________________________
Advertisement
EXPLORE THE ANCIENT ETRUSCANS IN PERSON!
Experience a unique, up-close-and-personal hike among ancient hilltop towns in central Italy. You will walk the sensational countryside of the regions of Umbria and Tuscany, soaking in important sites attesting to the advanced Etruscan civilization, forerunners of the ancient Romans; imposing architectural and cultural remains of Medieval Italy; local food and drink; and perhaps best of all — spectacular scenic views! Join us in this collaborative event for the trip of a lifetime!
