Etruscan Textiles in Context

Textiles were used for a variety of purposes by the Etruscans. Colorful garments are depicted on Etruscan figurines, statues, vases and tomb paintings and reflect not only changes in fashion through time but also the meaning of textiles as conveyors of individual and group identity. In addition to garments, bed covers, cushions, table cloths, wall hangings and other utilitarian textiles are frequently represented in Etruscan tomb paintings. Sails, armour and even books were also made of textile fibres. Until recently discussions of Etruscan textiles were based primarily on iconographic sources, but the latest studies of the surviving fabric remains are finally providing new and direct evidence of what these textiles looked like, how they were made and of what materials. The recently developed methodologies of textile tool analysis furthermore permit extracting new data regarding the types of cloth produced at specific sites and the scale of production. The chapter will provide an overview of these new results using specific case studies (e.g. Murlo) and placing them in a social, economic and political context of Etruscan culture and its historical development.