Textile techniques of the 1st millennium BCE in Central Europe

Abstract

Iron Age textile techniques in Central Europe are rooted in Bronze Age innovations which evolved into a very diverse picture of weaving and patterning techniques in the Iron Age. Besides the main textile culture of the Bronze Age being based on more or less simple tabbies, weaving techniques like twill weaving, tablet weaving, patterning and sewing techniques are innovations in mid 2nd millennium BCE. Gold threads from sites in Austria, Bavaria and Hungary bring some glamour into the woven world. In Iron Age Europe, the first specialisation in textile craft can be seen, with a fully developed textile craft with artfully used dyes, diverse weaving and patterning techniques of amazing quality. Within the Early Iron Age, the interplay between textiles and attached metal objects reaches a high standard – in expressing wealth and beauty. Some methods of operation show the unique approach of the craftspeople to the textile resource, offering an insight into the creative way of thinking of the prehistoric craftspeople. Textiles from the salt mines of Hallstatt and Dürrnberg serve as the main case study. They display a large variety of techniques and provide insight into different parts of textile craft and in the development of textile craft.