Call for papers

The upcoming Instrumentum International Meetings focus on fibers, thread, textiles, and the loom in pre-industrial European societies. The increasing number of discoveries of archaeological textile fragments and the development of technical methods for their study (among others, Moulherat 2008; Gleba, Mannering 2012) indeed reveal a great diversity in the ways threads were prepared and handled.

Following on from the research carried out in 1999 by the Lattes (F, 34) colloquium “Archéologie du textile des origines au Ve siècle” (Cardon, Feugère 2000) and by subsequent European colloquiums (notably Gillis, Nosch 2014; Bustamante-Álvarez, Sánchez López and Jiménez Ávila 2021; Lipkin, Wright and Ruhl 2023), the 2025 Instrumentum Association Meetings propose to bring together researchers and specialists to provide an updated overview of current knowledge. This time, the focus is on the reconstruction of operational chains related to textile manufacturing, from raw material acquisition to the finished product, including spinning and weaving.

The conference is organizing with partners : association MOIRES, Maison des Sciences de l’Homme and University Clermont-Auvergne UR 1001 CHEC,UMR 5140-ASM Montpellier,Bargoin Museum and Clermont-Ferrand Métropole, Ville de Clermont-Ferrand, Conseil départemental du Puy-de-Dôme, Service régional de l’Archéologie et Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and INRAP.

The diversity of discovery contexts shows that the use of textiles in ancient European societies was multifaceted and ubiquitous, taking on various forms. However, the role of their manufacture and consumption in daily life activities—whether domestic, artisanal, funerary, or ritual—is only partially perceptible, mostly through non-perishable tools or instruments. Textiles and production structures are rarely preserved, reaching us either through impressions (negative forms) or altered organic remains (mineralized, calcified, carbonized) or unaltered. These remains are sparse, struggling to convey their importance and complexity. A search for the presence of looms in European archaeological contexts is all the more necessary when considering the significance of this instrument in non-European cultures (Brumfiel 2006), both in its omnipresent use and its social symbolism.

The chronological and geographical frameworks are broadly open and concern all pre-industrial societies on a European scale. This openness allows for a larger cross-referencing of available sources and for confronting and enriching data from archaeology, social anthropology, history of techniques, and experimentation. This enables the observation of the continuity or evolution of techniques and artefacts related to textiles, as well as the textiles themselves, through time and geographic space. Moreover, highlighting natural raw materials, ancient techniques and low environmental impact production methods aligns this scientific event with current sustainable development issues.

The first section is dedicated to threads, of animal, vegetable, metallic, or mineral origin, and spinning. It will provide an opportunity to:

  • Review the instruments/tools and processes for acquiring, transforming, and dyeing raw materials;
  • Present new findings on methods for identifying and preserving archaeological fibers and threads;
  • Highlight potential choices of threads or weaving methods in creating finished products meeting specific creative criteria;
  • Discuss studies aiming to define the gender and social status of those practicing spinning;
  • Explore the symbolism associated with spinning objects (distaffs, spindles, whorls, spinning wheels, etc.).

The second section concerns looms, which occupy a central place among the means and tools used in fabric production, and other weaving instruments. The topics addressed include:

  • Their identification (remains, negative impressions, non-preserved remains whose absence does not reflect reality) in light of the diversity of elements known through textual sources (literature), epigraphy and iconography;
  • The current state of typological studies (morphologies, dimensions, constituent materials, shapes of finished products);
  • Their place in the living spaces, whether domestic or artisanal (workshop);
  • The gender and social status of those who make and/or use them, as well as the transmission of knowledge and craft functions within a community;
  • The symbolic dimensions of the objects.

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References

Brumfiel 2006: E. Brumfiel, Cloth, Gender, Continuity, and Change Fabricating Unity in Anthropology, American Anthropologist, New Series, 108-4, 2006, 862-877.

Bustamante-Álvarez, Sánchez López et Jiménez Ávila 2021: M. Bustamante-Álvarez, E. H. Sánchez López et J. Jiménez Ávila (dirs), Purpureae Vestes VII. Redefining Textile Handcraft. Structures, Tools and Production Processes, Proceedings of the VII the International Symposium on Textiles and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Granada, Spain 2-4 October 2019), Université de Grenade, Grenade, 2021.

Cardon, Feugère 2000: D. Cardon, M. Feugère (dirs.), Archéologie des textiles des origines au Ve siècle. Actes du colloque de Lattes, octobre 1999. Monographies Instrumentum, 14, M. Mergoil eds, Montagnac, 2000.

Gillis, Nosch 2014: C. Gillis, M.-L. Nosch (dirs.), Ancient textiles : production, craft and society : proceedings of the First International Conference on Ancient Textiles, Oxbow Books, 2014.

Gleba, Mannering 2012: M. Gleba, U. Mannering (dirs.), Textiles and textile production in Europe from prehistory to AD 400, Oxbow Books, 2012.

Lipkin,Wright et Ruhl 2023: S. Lipkin, K. Wright et E. Ruhl (dirs.), Interdisciplinary Approaches to Textile Research: Northern and Central European Textile Production and Use of Textiles and Clothing from the Neolithic to the Modern Period. The Proceedings of NESAT XIV. 23. – 26. August 2021, Oulu, Archaeological Society of Finland, Helsinki, 2023.

Moulherat 2008: C. Moulherat, Archéologie des textiles : une nouvelle méthodologie appliquée à l’étude des tissus minéralisés, Nouvelles de l’Archéologie, 114, 2008, 18-23.

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The colloquium is open to archaeologists, historians, art historians, anthropologists, and craftspeople working with historical or reconstructed techniques. Presentations (20 minutes) and posters may be drawn from artefacts (instruments, thread and weaving tools, textile remains), iconographic representations, documentary studies, imaging and physico-chemical analysis results, reconstructions or experimental results, craft pratices, comparative ethnological and anthropological research, and studies of textual and epigraphic sources. The presentations will focus on ancient European societies from Protohistory to the pre-industrial modern era. The authorized languages are French and English.

Organizing Committee (FR): Isabelle Bertrand, Nicolas Delferrière,Elsa Desplanques, Stéphanie Raux et Emeline Retournard

Scientific Committee: The Organizing Committee members and Catherine Breniquet (FR), Macarena Bustamente-Álvarez (ES), Dominique Cardon (FR), Elisabeth Dospel Williams (US), Margarita Gleba (IT), Francisco B. Gomes (PT), Audrey Gouy (FR), Katrin Kania (DE), Christina Margariti (GR), Fabienne Médard (FR), Louise Quillien (FR), Laurence Riviale (FR), Stella Spantidaki (GR), Agata Ulanowska (PL)

Location: Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 4 rue Ledru, F-63000 Clermont-Ferrand

Dates: 14-16 October 2025″

The deadline for proposals for papers and posters is 30 April 2025 by email to colloqueinstrumentum2025@proton.me
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