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Textiles played underestimated role in the research on cultural relations between Roman Empire and Barbaricum, although they depict certain aspects of the mutual exchange between these two worlds. Textile studies explore ancient technology and changes it underwent, they offer insight into labour organisation, the degree of specialisation, they add to the store of knowledge about trade and other means of exchange. Textile also provide information about social and economic standing of their users, as well as their aesthetic preferences. Basing on textile material sources, historians and archaeologists are able to obtain more information about Barbarian economy, which left no written evidence of its condition. Eventually, archaeological finds of fabrics help to reconstruct ancient trade routes. The thesis that textiles had their significance in cultural relationship between Roman Empire and Barbaricum is supported by the presence of the so-called imports registered on these territories. Although not all textile types can be recognized as certain import, they provide valuable evidence that both Romans and Barbarians produced high-quality fabrics, which were also characterised by the fine quality of the raw material, i.e. wool. The weaving industry of the Roman times appears to be highly developed, while contacts, especially cultural ones, between Romans and Barbarians prove relatively complex when approached from the perspective of the textile industry. |
