Textiles and dress in Greece and the Roman East : a technological and social approach : proceedings of a conference held at the Department of History, Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management of the University of Peloponnese in Kalamata in collaboration with the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete on March 18-19, 2011 / edited by Iris Tzachili and Eleni Zimi.

Presentations from the conference "Modern approaches to the study of ancient textiles, technical and social aspects of Roman dress," implemented in the European "Culture" Programme, "Clothing and Identities, new perspectives on textiles in the Roman Empire"--Preface.

Includes bibliographical references.

Introduction: Weaving, dress and technical developments in Roman-era Greece / Iris Tzachili -- Exceptional Textiles. An example of a gold-woven silk textile in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki / Katerina Tzanavari. Les tissus à bandes d'or du Bas-Empire : l'exemple de Thessaloniki / Christophe Moulhérat, Stella Spantidaki. Technological analyses of textiles from a 5th century B.C. burial from grave 35 HTR7 3, Kerameikos Cenetery, Athens, Greece / Christina Margariti, Maria Kinti. Metal threads : the historical development / Anna Karatzani -- Looms and loomweights. The clay loomweights of ancient Messens : types, decoration, distribution / Glykeria Gkika. The loomweights of the Hellenistic settlement at Trypitos, Siteia / Chrysa Sofianou -- Literary testimonies and inscriptions. Dress in Roman grave stelai from Greece and Asia Minor and aspects of its social interpretation / Maria Spathi. Some thought on the unravelling of Chinese silks in the Roman Empire : a reassement of Lucan, Bellum civile 10.141-143 / Berit Hildebrandt. Problèmes de la terminologie grecque de la broderie : recherche sur une aporie / Maria Patera. The mythe of Arachne and weaving in Lydia / Iris Tzachili. Purple dye in the Roman province of Macedonia : the evidence from Northern Greece / Eleni Zimi.

"Dress, textiles and their production process are a difficult scientific venture to embark upon, due to the complexity of the subject. They present man different aspects and touch on a wide variety of social sectors, such as the economy, technique, raw materials, commerce, fashion and symbolisms of all kinds. This is even more the case when the period covered is the Roman era in Greece, a multifarious and little-studied time influenced both by the weight of Classical tradition and by the new mores and customs spreading throughout the empire. This volume contains the presentations from a conference jointly organized by the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete, and the Department of History, Archaeology and Cultural Resources Management of the University of Peloponnese, held in Kalamata. The papers touch upon technical and social issues based on archaeological and written sources regarding weaving and dress, and shed light on different aspects of a particularly complex process." -- Back cover.