Threads of change: textile production and consumption during the Early Iron Age in Eastern Iberia

Abstract

The establishment of Phoenician colonies in the South and East of Iberia between the 9th and 8th centuries BCE directly and indirectly provided an unprecedented stimulus for the economic and social development of the local communities, which became increasingly integrated into the trade dynamics of the Mediterranean. Textile production and consumption seem to have played a significant role that has not been sufficiently appreciated so far and that will be the basis of the spectacular textile development that followed. Therefore, this article analyses the textile tools and elements related to clothing found in different archaeological sites in Eastern Iberia between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, both indigenous and Phoenician, which coexisted in the same territory, establishing important economic and exchange relationships. The evidence seems to indicate significant changes in textile tools, but above all in the organisation of production and forms of textile consumption.