What Shall I Say of Clothes? Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Dress in Antiquity

by Megan Cifarelli (Editor), Laura Gawlinski (Editor)

Overview

The essays in this volume engage explicitly in a variety of theoretical and methodological strategies for the interpretation of dress, dressed bodies, and their representations in the ancient world. Focusing on personal ornaments, portraiture, and architectural sculpture, the collected papers investigate the visual, somatic, and semantic significance of the act of getting dressed, what it meant to be dressed in various ways, and how dress contributed to and shaped identities in antiquity. Authors draw from a wide range of disciplinary frameworks, integrating literary and archaeological evidence, experimental archaeology, social theory and the study of iconography. This volume spans a broad area both geographically and chronologically, bringing the ancient Near East into dialogue with the classical world from prehistory through late antiquity. The breadth and inclusivity of this volume provide a strong theoretical and methodological foundation for the collaborative study of the dynamic role of dressed bodies and images that depict them. Contributors are Emma L. Baysal, Eric Beckmann, Ayse Bursali, Alexis Q. Castor, Megan Cifarelli, Laura Gawlinski, Maura Heyn, Neville Mc Ferrin, Kiersten Neumann, Hadi Ozbal, Rana Ozbal, Josephine Verduci, Alissa Whitmore, Elizabeth Wueste, and Baris Yagci.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781931909341
Publisher:	Archaeological Institute of America
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Series:	Selected Papers on Ancient Art and Architecture , #3
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 8.94(h) x (d)

About the Author

Megan Cifarelli is currently professor and chair of art history at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. She is an art historian whose work ranges from Assyrian relief sculptures to dress items from the first millennium B.C.E. in northwestern Iran, with a theoretical focus on gender, identity, and embodied experience. Laura Gawlinski is associate professor and chair of classical studies at Loyola University, Chicago. Her research involves combining epigraphy and archaeology to investigate how ancient Greek religion was practiced. She is active in fieldwork and has been associated with the excavations of the Athenian Agora since 1995.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction-Megan Cifarelli and Laura Gawlinski List of Contributors Section One: Getting Dressed Gods Among Men: Fashioning the Divine Image in Assyria-Kiersten Neumann, Early Iron Age Adornment within Southern Levantine Mortuary Contexts: An Argument for Existential Significance in Understanding Material Culture-Josephine A. Verduci Section Two: Being Dressed Color-Coded: The Relationship between Color, Iconography, and Theory in Hellenistic and Roman Gemstones-Eric Beckman Fascinating Fascina: Apotropaic Magic and How to Wear a Penis-Alissa M. Whitmore Surface Tensions on Etruscan and Greek Jewelry-Alexis Q. Castor, Costly Choices: Signaling Theory and Dress in Period IVb Hasanlu, Iran-Megan Cifarelli Section Three: Dress and Identity Neolithic Blue Beads in Northwest Turkey: The Social Significance of Skeuomorphism- Ayse Bursali, Rana Ozbal, Emma Baysal, Hadi Ozbal, Baris Yagci Fabrics of Inclusion: Deep Wearing and the Potentials of Materiality on the Apadana Reliefs-Neville Mc Ferrin Theorizing Religious Dress-Laura Gawlinski The Costumes and Attributes of Late Antique Honorific Monuments: Conformity and Divergence within the Public and Political Sphere-Elizabeth Wueste Western Men, Eastern Women? Dress and Cultural Identity in Roman Palmyra-Maura K. Heyn

Editorial Reviews

"Each chapter in this volume is a valuable contribution to ancient dress (especially those concerning the Near East and Turkey, subjects not often found in books on 'ancient' dress) and a helpful compendium on fascinating new directions in studies on ancient clothing and adornment. . . . I would count it essential reading for every scholar of costume in antiquity." —Kelly Olson, The University of Western Ontario, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.09.25

From the Publisher