This study considers the textiles made, traded, and exchanged across
Eurasia from late antiquity to the late Middle Ages with special
attention to the socio-political and cultural aspects of this universal
medium. It presents a wide range of textiles used in both domestic and
religious settings, as dress and furnishings, and for elite and ordinary
owners. The introduction presents historiographical background to the
study of textiles and explains the conditions of their survival in
archaeological contexts and museums. A section on the materials and
techniques used to produce textiles if followed by those outlining
textile production, industry, and trade across Eurasia. Further sections
examine the uses for dress and furnishing textiles and the appearance of
imported fabrics in European contexts, addressing textiles' functions
and uses in medieval societies. Lastly, a concluding section on textile
aesthetics connects fabrics to their broader visual and material
context.