Harris, SM;
(2014)
Sensible dress: experiments with the sight, sound, touch and smell of Late Ertebølle, Mesolithic cloth types.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal
, 24
(1)
37 - 56.
10.1017/S0959774314000031.
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Abstract
The aim of this article is to investigate the sight, sound, smell and touch of different cloth types in the Late Ertebølle of southern Scandinavia and to argue that such an approach provides stimulating new insights into an area of material culture that has previously been studied by archaeologists in a highly empirical manner. The archaeological evidence drawn together in this article points to this as a time when furs and skin products were of prime importance and plant fibres were the basis for knotted nets, looped cloth and basketry. In the archaeological literature these cloth types are usually treated separately and described according to the species of raw materials, such as pine marten fur, or the technology of their production, such as couched button-hole stitch. Using an experiment where participants are asked to handle modern cloth types and answer structured questionnaires, it is possible to create a sensory description of these cloth types. These descriptive results are then used to reconsider aspects of cloth and clothing in the Late Ertebølle of southern Scandinavia. By moving from the standard technological description to a sensory description, the Mesolithic cloth types investigated in this article are placed within a sensory and phenomenological theoretical framework. The presentation of these results seeks to provide a new description of these materials and allow archaeologists to revaluate the culturally-embedded nature of cloth and clothing at that time.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sensible dress: experiments with the sight, sound, touch and smell of Late Ertebølle, Mesolithic cloth types. |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0959774314000031 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959774314000031 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2014 |
| Keywords: | Archaeology, Mesolithic, Textile, Leather, Europe |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1430735 |
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