‘And the women were spinning …’: An historical archaeology of cotton thread production in West Africa.
By:
Dr Natalie Swanepoel
Date:
Tue, 11/10/2022 - 18:30 to 19:30
Branch:
Western Cape
Title: ‘And the women were spinning …’: An historical archaeology of cotton thread production in West Africa.
By: Dr Natalie Swanepoel
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/BhKgxaTR9xE
Abstract:
Historically, cloth was an important artefact and trade commodity within sub-Saharan Africa. Whether made from cotton, silk, wool, raffia or bast fibres, it was locally produced and imported, worn and traded from at least the beginning of the second millennium, if not before. It is not easy, however, to discern the presence of this cloth archaeologically as both the cloth itself and many of the tools used to make it were organic in nature. This talk will present some early results from the Elusive Threads project, which is making use of an historical archaeological approach – drawing on the details preserved in historical travel accounts, ethnographic and colonial accounts, and the associated pictorial evidence, in conjunction with the available archaeological evidence – to identify the different raw materials, tools, techniques, personnel and processes used in West African spinning and cloth-making.
By: Dr Natalie Swanepoel
YouTube link: https://youtu.be/BhKgxaTR9xE
Abstract:
Historically, cloth was an important artefact and trade commodity within sub-Saharan Africa. Whether made from cotton, silk, wool, raffia or bast fibres, it was locally produced and imported, worn and traded from at least the beginning of the second millennium, if not before. It is not easy, however, to discern the presence of this cloth archaeologically as both the cloth itself and many of the tools used to make it were organic in nature. This talk will present some early results from the Elusive Threads project, which is making use of an historical archaeological approach – drawing on the details preserved in historical travel accounts, ethnographic and colonial accounts, and the associated pictorial evidence, in conjunction with the available archaeological evidence – to identify the different raw materials, tools, techniques, personnel and processes used in West African spinning and cloth-making.
Bio:
Dr Natalie Swanepoel is a senior lecturer of Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology & Archaeology at the University of South Africa. She graduated with her Ph.D. from Syracuse University (USA) in 2004. She is a novice spinner and weaver.
Dr Natalie Swanepoel is a senior lecturer of Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology & Archaeology at the University of South Africa. She graduated with her Ph.D. from Syracuse University (USA) in 2004. She is a novice spinner and weaver.