Staff profile

BA(Hons)- First class - Open University

MA - Distinction - University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Research topic

Sensory aspects of textile productoin in Classical Greece

Research abstract

Through an engagement with the archaeological evidence for textile tools and production methods from Classical Greece,and through experimental research, I will investigate the sensory experiences which use of these tools and processes engendered in textile workers, particularly spinners and weavers. I will investigate the centrality of sensory perception to this activity and the embodied/tacit knowledge which textile workers draw on. This includes considering how the senses inform the actions of workers; how the senses are deployed to understand the materials and tools used, their qualities and limitations and how the textile worker responds to those qualities and limitations. I will also investigate the physical and mental demands made on the body by textile work. My research will be situated in the classical city of Olynthos, Chalkidiki, where there is evidence for textile production in a range of settings.Finally, I will disucss my results in light of the social and political context of classical Greece, covering isues such as identity, locus of production and socialization.

Research Group

Material and visual culture