Textile production and technological changes in the archaic societies of Magna Graecia: The case of Torre di Satriano (Lucania, Italy)

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 | Recent studies on textile production have been demonstrating how the societies of Pre-Roman Italy in the Archaic age (7th- 6th centuries BC) engaged in a development of new productive processes and technological variability in the manufacture of textiles, which resulted in the specialisation and standardisation of the objects used for the different productive steps, and their general increase in number. These changes were likely caused by social and cultural factors, as well as individual experimentations and choices. Within this general picture, Archaic South Italy represents a paradigmatic area of intense and deep contacts and cultural exchanges between Greek communities and indigenous societies. This paper focuses on the case-study of the settlement of Torre di Satriano (Lucania), which demonstrates profound changes in textile tools used for weaving, that is the loom weights, over a limited time span. These changes indicate complex social networks which developed between the Greek coastal settlements and the indigenous groups situated inland, primarily the dominant elites. The adoption and acquisition of new highly specialised weaving traditions and techniques most likely occurred through the exchange of ideas and practices among women, and suggest the presence of women from these Greek communities at Torre di Satriano.