Textile products, consumers and producers in the Hallstatt Culture

Published in Origini n. XL/2017. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations | This paper presents an overview of textile production in the Hallstatt Culture. “The people behind”, i.e. textile producers and consumers, can be studied using the evidence from the settlements where they lived and worked. Spindle whorls, loom weights and needles found in graves may also indicate that their owners were textile workers, but they also demonstrate their special status. Iconographic sources help us to envision the people involved not only in the production of textiles but also their consumption. Textiles and textile tools can give us a first indication of the level of production, starting from the household production during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages and culminating in the more specialised level of production in the Hallstatt Culture.