Contextualising textiles: using the Bolton Museum collection to explore social and international contexts of Egyptian Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age c

Our knowledge and understanding of technological change and innovation from the Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age in Egypt is severely lacking. Examination of a virtually unexploited collection of excavated textiles from Bolton Museum, which span this time frame, will seek to address this imbalance in ancient Egyptian technological studies. In order to address this gap, the aims of my project are threefold. Firstly, to analyse the development of textile technology by examining weaving methods, undertaking microscopic study of fibres and analysing the dyes used. Secondly, to assess the impact of international contacts on the production, use and ideology of textiles and to examine Egypt's role in the ancient knowledge economy of the Near East. Thirdly, to analyse the development of the socio-cultural context and meanings of cloth types, including looking at the role of linen in early mummification.
To achieve these aims I will (1) research, analyse and curate selected textiles from the collection, which have been excavated from various settlement and funerary contexts. These will then be prepared for display in the new Egyptian gallery at Bolton Museum. (2) Use the conservation facilities at Bolton Museum and Liverpool University to scientifically identify the origins of the materials and processes used in the production of the cloth. (3) Undertake research into current Egyptian settlement and funerary sites from the Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age where textiles have been excavated. These will then be compared with the original socio-cultural contexts of the textiles from Bolton.
Part of the output from this work will be to disseminate the findings through the new Egyptian gallery at Bolton Museum and its online catalogue. This study will provide for the first time a significant corpus of evidence of cloth production, development and dissemination in Egypt from the Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age, which will significantly add to our knowledge of technological change and innovation in Egypt as far back as the 5th millennium BC.