The Common Thread - archaeological textile research in the 21st century

Associate professor, Eva Andersson Strand, Saxo Institute.

Inaugural Lecture by Eva Andersson Strand, associate professor at the Saxo Institute, on past, current, and future perspectives for textile archaeology. She will present some of her ongoing research projects.

Textile archaeology

Archaeological textile research has a long history from the end of the 19^th century. Many brilliant scholars have published frequently on the subject, but it is still considered a rather specialized field of research. Thanks to the Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research (CTR) in collaboration with the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen, textile archaeology has now become integrated in archaeology.

Current research projects

In this inaugural lecture Eva Andersson Strand will give a brief introduction to textile archaeology with a focus on the development into the 21st century. Furthermore, in order to introduce the interdisciplinarity of the field, and, at the same time my own research, I will present three of my works in progress:

• Investigating textiles at Bronze Age Kültepe/Kaneš, Anatolia
• Travelling with textiles – use, trade and exchange / Birka – Bagdad – Luoyang: Early Medieval Silk Road
• Capturing our intangible past: Craft technology and experimental archaeology in digital space 

 All interested are welcome.