Uncovering Scotland’s Earliest Textiles 

Join Dr Susanna Harris as she explores Scotland's earliest preserved textiles, dating back to the Bronze Age, around 4,000 years ago. By investigating textile fragments found in collections and archives, we uncover surprising evidence of these fragile and rarely preserved archaeological materials. Among our findings are Scotland's first examples of sheep's wool textiles, flax, abundant twisted cords, a creative variety of twined fabrics, and the oldest known garment from Scotland.

The variety of fabrics found in Scotland offers valuable insights into the types of materials people used during this formative era, as well as their visual and sensory qualities. These fabrics have been discovered in short cists, impressed on pottery (some of which are on display at Perth Museum), in hoards, and in peat bogs. The context in which these items were found provides unique evidence of what people wore and the significance of textiles in their lives in the deep past.

Biography

Dr Susanna Harris is Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Glasgow. A specialist in archaeological textiles, her aim is to raise the profile of textile evidence to a level comparable with their social importance, rather than with their rare survival. Harris has published widely on ancient textiles. She recently led the fibre and fabric analysis of Must Farm, Bronze Age pile-dwelling settlement, Cambridgeshire with Cambridge Archaeological Unit and is working with National Museums Scotland on the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project, ‘Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard’.

This event is in collaboration with the University of Highlands and Islands and the Institute of Northern Studies.