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A lepidopterous cocoon from Thera and evidence for silk in the Aegean Bronze Age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

E. Panagiotakopulu ,
P.C. Buckland ,
P.M. Day ,
C. Doumas ,
A. Sarpaki  and
P. Skidmore
E. Panagiotakopulu
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY, London, England
P.C. Buckland
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET, England
P.M. Day
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET, England
C. Doumas
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & History of Art, University Campus, 157 84 Ilissia, Athens, Greece
A. Sarpaki
Affiliation:
Department of History & Archaeology, University of Crete, Rethymno 74 100, Crete, Greece
P. Skidmore
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Prehistory, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street, Sheffield S1 4ET, England
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Extract

What were the fine garments vividly painted in the Minoan frescoes made of? Fine cotton (cotton from Egypt is still prized today)? Or the yet finer fabric of silk? And if silk, where did the stuff, or knowledge of cultivating the silk-worms, come from? A cocoon from Santorini offers new evidence.

Type
Papers
Information
Antiquity , Volume 71 , Issue 272 , June 1997 , pp. 420 - 429
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 1997

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