Textile production in prehistoric anatolia: A study of three Early Bronze Age sites

Abstract

The emergence of complex societies in Anatolia during the third millennium BCE created changes in socio-political organisation and an increase in economic activity through specialised industries such as textiles. In this study, the growth of textiles has been investigated through an intra-spatial analysis of activity areas and textile accoutrement at three Early Bronze Age sites with the aim of interpreting the importance of textiles within various social and economic systems. The Anatolian evidence for spinning and weaving during the third millennium BCE suggests that textiles were produced at a household level with minimal political management or control. However, the large quantity of implements indicates cloth production was an expanding, time-consuming task with significant implications to the economy. The large amounts of collateral data demonstrates that even without written evidence the increase in textile production can inform us about much larger issues of cultural complexity and social organisation in early states.