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IMC 2023: Sessions

Session 1133: The Entangled Making, Uses, and Visualisations of Textiles in the Early Medieval Period, 450-1100, II

Wednesday 5 July 2023, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:AHRC Project 'Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard' / National Museum of Scotland / University of Glasgow
Organisers:Tracey Davison, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Alexandra Makin, School of Humanities (Archaeology), University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair:Tracey Davison, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Paper 1133-aEntangled Textiles: The Case of the Galloway Hoard
(Language: English)
Alexandra Makin, School of Humanities (Archaeology), University of Glasgow
Susanna Harris, School of Humanities (Archaeology), University of Glasgow
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Social History
Paper 1133-bEmbroidered Entanglements: Chains of Gift-Giving and the Cuthbert Embroideries
(Language: English)
Daisy Bonsall, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Social History
Abstract

This session explores the entangled roles of textiles within early medieval society. Surviving textiles, documentary sources, and art works show that what textiles were made from, where they were produced, their biographies, society's secular and religious beliefs, and who made and used them incorporated meanings and sent messages. By studying these ethereal objects, we gain insights into cultural understandings and displays of wealth, social position, and connections and entanglements of power across secular and religious worlds. All this evidence demonstrates that textiles and early medieval societies were deeply entwined, often bringing much of the then known, unknown and spiritual together.