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Margarita Gleba

Research Interests:

  • Archaeological textiles and technological, economic and social aspects of textile production in antiquity
  • The use of natural science methods in archaeology
  • Early Iron Age and the Orientalising period in the Mediterranean, connections with the Near East
  • Archaeology of Etruscan and pre-Roman Italy
  • Archaeology of Northern Black Sea area and Scythian culture

Research Directory Records

Previous Research Projects

  • 2007- present Spokesperson for Study Group E, Dress and Identity

Project funded by the Culture Programme of the European Union (http://www.dressid.eu) The main objectives of the DressID project are to provide a position in cultural history for clothing and textiles in antiquity, and to demonstrate how clothing is a key to identity studies. The aim of the interdisciplinary collaboration is to strengthen the networks and exchange of knowledge and ideas of European scholars and combine various scientific traditions in Europe. The research is organised as a network of study groups, each headed by two spokespersons who are in charge of communication and organisation of the research within specific fields. Study group E focuses on the technological development in textile production and its influence on the Roman economic structures. As part of its activities an interdisciplinary workshop was held in 2009, which will lay groundwork for a publication of a handbook on identity of producers and traders in the Graeco-Roman world.

  • 2005-present Principal Investigator, Study of textile implements at Miletos, Turkey (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany)

Miletos had a reputation for its wool products in Classical times but textile production on the site was already developed during the Bronze Age. The study of over 3000 loom weights and spindle whorls excavated at the site during the last 100 years focuses on tracing the development of textile production at Miletos.

The aim of the research programme is to examine the extraordinary collection of completely preserved textile and skin costumes from Denmark, dated to Bronze and Early Iron Age, using modern scientific methods, and to create new international reference standards for these finds. The long-term goal is to set new textile research standards, and to explore and communicate the new knowledge acquired during the process.

The project analyses and evaluates the parameters for and the impact on society of the development of textile production in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. In particular, the aim is to reveal how tools and technology developed to meet the new demands. Textile tools from over 40 sites in Greece, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Israel are recorded in a specially designed database to be analysed from a functional point of view.

  • 2004-2007 Assistant Director, American-Ukrainian Scythian Kurhan Project (Florida State University, USA and Institute of Archaeology of Ukraine)

The international project involved re-excavation Oleksandropil, one of five Royal Scythian kurhans, in south-central Ukraine. The burial mound was one of largest kurhans ever constructed and was the first kurhan to be partially excavated in 1854 (material currently in the Hermitage) and the finds from this mound have laid foundations for Scythian chronology. The work in the project has focused on defining the topography of the mound and the excavations yielded over 10,000 fragments of transport amphorae and other material, which are currently being studied. Preliminary results indicate that the chronology of this kurhan and therefore Scythian chronology in generak must be re-evaluated in light of these new finds.

  • 2002-2006 Associate Director, Poggio delle Civitelle, San Venanzo, Italy (Florida State University, USA)

The excavations of the site of Poggio delle Civitelle, located between Orvieto and Perugia, were carried out in order to understand the organisation of the territory of Etruscan city of Volsinii (modern Orvieto). The architectural remains, rich finds and the extended period of occupation of the site (from the Final Bronze Age to the 4th century AD) indicate that it was an outpost of Volsinii in Etruscan times but came under the influence of Tuder (modern Todi) in the Tiber valley during Roman period.

Professional History

  • 2009-2011 Marie Curie Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
  • 2009 Lecturer, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2005-2009 Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Project Manager, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2005 Part-time Lecturer, Department of Classics, Rutgers University, USA

Educational Background

  • 2004 PhD, Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College, USA
  • 1999 MA, Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College, USA
  • 1997 BS, biology and art history, High Honors, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, USA

Editorships

Monographs

  • M. Gleba (2008). Textile Production in Pre-Roman Italy, Ancient Textile Series 4, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link] 

Co-Edited volumes

  • M. Gleba and J. Pasztokai-Szeöke (2013). Making Textiles in pre-Roman and Roman Times: People , Places, Identities, Ancient Textiles Series, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link]
  • 2012 M. Gleba and U. Mannering (eds.), Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, Ancient Textiles Series 11, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link]
  • 2011 M. Gleba and H. W. Horsnaes, Communicating Identity in Iron Age Italic Communities, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link]
  • 2010 E. Andersson Strand, M. Gleba, U. Mannering, C. Munkholt and M. Ringgaard (eds.), North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X, Ancient Textile Series 5, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link]
  • 2009 M. Gleba and H. S. Becker (eds.), Votives, Places and Rituals in Etruscan Religion. Studies in Honour of Jean MacIntosh Turfa, Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 166, Leiden, Brill [publisher link]
  • 2008 M. Gleba, C. Munkholt and M.-L. Nosch (eds.), Dressing the past: costume through 21st century eyes, Ancient Textile Series 3, Oxford, Oxbow Books [publisher link]

Articles in Peer Reviewed Journals

  • 2012 C. Bergfjord, U. Mannering, K. M. Frei, M. Gleba, A. B. Scharff, I. Skals, J. Heinemeier, M.-L. Nosch and B. Holst, “Nettle as a distinct Bronze Age textile plant”, Nature Scientific Reports [publisher link]
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “From textiles to sheep: investigating wool fibre development in pre-Roman Italy using scanning electron microscopy (SEM)”, Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 3643-3661 [publisher link]
  • 2012 K. Price and M. Gleba, “Textiles on Egyptian Mirrors: Pragmatics or Religion?”, Archaeological Textiles Review 54
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “En verden af etruskiske tekstiler”, SFINX 35, nr. 1, 18-23 (in Danish)
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “La donna e la produzione tessile nell’Italia preromana”, Forma Urbis XVII, n. 3 (Marzo 2012), 20-22 (in Italian)
  • 2011 R. Alipour, M. Gleba, T. Rehren “Textile templates for ceramic crucibles in early Islamic Akhsiket, Uzbekistan”, Archaeological Textiles Newsletter 53, 15-27
  • 2011 M. Gleba, “Textile studies: sources and methods”, Kubaba 2, 2-26 [publisher link]
  • 2011 M. Gleba and D. Griffiths, “Textile Remains from a Middle Bronze Age Burial in Sidon”, Archaeology & History in the Lebanon 34-35, Winter-Spring 2011
  • 2011 L. Ø. Brandt, L. D. Tranekjer, M. Mannering, M. Ringgaard, K. M. Frei, E. Willerslev, M. Gleba and M. T. P. Gilbert, Characterising the potential of sheep wool for ancient DNA analyses, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 3 (2), 209-221 [publisher link]
  • 2011 N. T. de Grummond, S. V. Polin, L.A. Chernich, M. Gleba, M. N. Daragan, “The American-Ukrainian Scythian Kurgan Project, 2004-2005: Preliminary Report”, in G.R. Tsetskhladze (ed.), The Black Sea, Greece, Anatolia and Europe in the First Millennium BC, Colloquia Antiqua vol. 1, 141-194; Leuven: Peeters Publishers
  • 2010 U. Mannering, I. Heinemeier, G. Possnert and M. Gleba, “Dating textiles and skins from bog finds by 14C-AMS”, Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 261-268 [publisher link]
  • 2010 M. Gleba and U. Mannering, “A thread to the past: the Huldremose Woman revisited”, Archaeological Textiles Newsletter 50, 32-37
  • 2010 E. B. Andersson, K. M. Frei, M. Gleba, U. Mannering, M.-L. B. Nosch and I. Skals, “Old textiles – new approaches”, European Journal of Archaeology 13(2), 149-173 2009 K. Frei, R. Frei, U. Mannering, M. Gleba, M.-L. Nosch, H. Lyngstrøm, “Provenance of ancient textiles – a pilot study evaluating the Sr isotope system in wool”, Archaeometry 51:2, 252-276 [publisher link]
  • 2009 M. Gleba and A. Nikolova, “Fabric remains from Sugokleya (Ukraine)”, Archaeological Textile Newsletter 48, 7-9
  • 2009 I. Vanden Berghe, M. Gleba and U. Mannering, “Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandinavian peat bog textiles”, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 1910-1921 [publisher link]
  • 2009 K. M. Frei, M. Gleba, I. Skals, H. Lyngstrøm, “The Huldremose Iron Age textiles, Denmark: an attempt to define their provenance applying the Strontium isotope system”, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, 1965-1971 [publisher link]
  • 2009 U. Mannering, M. Gleba, G. Possnert, I. Heinemeier, “Om datering af lig og klæde”, KUML Årbog for Jusk Arkæologisk Selskab 103-125 (in Danish with English summary)
  • 2009 M. Gleba, “Archaeology in Etruria 2003-2009”, Archaeological Reports 55 (2008-2009), 103-121
  • 2005 S.V. Polin, N.T. de Grummond, M. Gleba, L.A. Chernyh, M.N. Daragan, “Ukrainian-American Scythian Kurhan Project. First Season of Work” in Archaeological Researches in Ukraine 2003-2004, 252-257, Zaporizzhia: Dyke Pole (in Russian)
  • 2003 M. Gleba, “Archaeology in Etruria 1995-2002”, Archaeological Reports for 2002-2003, No. 49: 89-103
  • 2003 M. Gleba, “Shaped Clay Items” (pp. 57-59) and “Pierced Disks, worked Bone, Sherd Scrapers and Adzes” (pp. 65-67), in R. Bernbeck and S. Pollock (eds.), “The Biography of an Early Halaf Village: Fıstıklı Höyük 1999-2000”, Istanbuler Mitteilungen 53: 9-77

Chapters in Books and Anthologies

  • In press M. Gleba, “Etruscan Textiles in Context”, in A. Carpino and S. Bell (eds), Companion to the Etruscans, Wiley-Blackwell (Invited contributor)
  • In press M. Gleba, “Cloth worth a King’s Ransom: textile circulation and transmission of textile craft in the ancient Mediterranean”, in K. Rebay-Salisbury, L. Foxhall and A. Brysbaert (eds), Material Crossovers: knowledge networks and the movement of technological knowledge between craft traditions (Invited contributor)
  • In press M. Gleba, “Chasing Gold Threads: Auratae vestes from Hellenistic rulers to Varangian Guards”, In L. M.-B. Højberg Bjerg, J. H. Lind and S. M. Sindbæk (eds.), From Goths to Varangians. Communication and Cultural Exchange between the Baltic and the Black Sea, Black Sea Studies (Invited contributor)
  • 2013 M. Gleba, “The world of Etruscan textiles”, in J. Turfa (ed.), The World of the Etruscans: A Modern Approach, Rutledge (Invited contributor)
  • 2013 M. Gleba “Textiles and Dress”, in A. Naso (ed.), Handbook of Etruscan Studies, New York: de Gruyter (Invited contributor)
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “Auratae vestes”, in M. Müller, M.-L. Babin und J. Riecke, Das Thema Kleidung in den Etymologien Isidors von Sevilla und dem Summarium Heinrici, 555-564. Berlin, De Gruyter (Invited contributor; in German)
  • 2012 M. Gleba and T. Krupa, “Ukraine”, in M. Gleba and U. Mannering, Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “Italy: Iron Age”, in M. Gleba and U. Mannering, Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, 214-241, 397-425, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2012 U. Mannering, M. Gleba and M. Bloch Hansen, “Denmark”, in M. Gleba and U. Mannering, Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, 89-118, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2012 M. Gleba and U. Mannering, “Introduction: Textile Preservation, Analysis and Technology”, in M. Gleba and U. Mannering, Textiles and Textile Production in Europe from Prehistory to AD 400, 1-26, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2009 M. Gleba, “Textile Tools in Ancient Italian Votive Contexts: Evidence of Dedication or Production?”, in M. Gleba and H.W. Becker (eds.), Votives, Places and Rituals in Etruscan Religion. Studies in Honour of Jean MacIntosh Turfa, 69-84, Leiden, Brill
  • 2008 M. Gleba, “You are What You Wear: Scythian Costume as Identity”, in M. Gleba, C. Munkholt and M.L. Nosch (eds.), Dressing the Past, 13-28, Oxford, Oxbow Books

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • In press M. Gleba, “Transformations in Textile Production and Exchange in pre-Roman Italy”, in M. Gleba and J. Pasztokai-Szeöke, Mahing Textiles in pre-Roman and Roman Times: People, Places, Identities, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • In press M. Gleba, “Sacred cloth: consumption and production of textiles in sanctuaries and the power of elites in archaic western Mediterranean world”, in E. Kistler (ed.), Sanctuaries and the Power of Consumption. Networking and the Formation of Elites in the Archaic Western Mediterranean World, Ludwig‐Reichert Verlag
  • In press M. Gleba and M. Baioni, “The textile find from Lucone di Polpenazze (BS)”, Proceedings of the International Conference “Pile dwellings: investigation, preservation, enhancement”, British Archaeological Reports
  • In press M. Gleba, “Women and textile production in Early Iron Age southern Italy”, in G. Saltini Semerari and G. J. Burgers (eds.), Dinamiche sociali nell’Italia meridionale della Prima Età del Ferro/Social Change in Early Iron Age southern Italy, Rome
  • In press M. Gleba and I. Vanden Berghe, “Textiles from Strozzacapponi (Perugia/Corciano), Italy – new evidence of purple production in pre-Roman Italy”, in C. Alfaro (ed), Purpureae Vestes IV
  • In press M. Gleba, “Fibre in Italy before Roman Empire”, in J. Banck-Burgess and B. von Stockfleth (eds), North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles XI
  • In press M. Gleba, “Wrapped up for safe keeping: ‘wrapping’ customs in Early Iron Age Europe”, in S. Harris L. Douny (eds.), Wrapping and Unwrapping Material Culture: Archaeological and Anthropological Perspectives, Left Coast Press
  • 2012 M. Gleba “Lo sviluppo delle fibre di lana nell'Italia preromana”, in M. S. Busana and P. Basso (eds), La lana nella Cisalpina romana: economia e società, 351-363, Padova: Antenor (in Italian)
  • 2012 M. Gleba “Fibre tessili nell’Etruria d’epoca protostorica: i primi dati del progetto FIBRE”, in N. Negroni Catacchio (ed.), Preistoria e Protostoria in Etruria, X incontro di studi, 1-12, Milano (in Italian)
  • 2012 M. Gleba and J. Cutler, “Textile production in Bronze Age Miletos”, In. R. Lafineur and M.-L. Nosch, KOSMOS: Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age, Aegaeum 13, 113-120, Liege/Austin
  • 2012 M. Gleba, “Linen-clad Etruscan warriors”, in M.-L. Nosch and K. Galster (eds.), Wearing the Cloak: Dressing Soldier in Roman Times, 45-55, Ancient Textiles Series Vol. 10, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2011 M. Gleba, “Textile tools as indicators of female identity in Early Iron Age Italy”, in M. Gleba and H.W. Horsnæs, Communicating Identity in Italic Iron Age Communities, 26-32, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2010 I. Vanden Berghe, M. Gleba, U. Mannering, “Dyes: to be or not to be? Investigation of dyeing in Early Iron Age Danish bog textiles”, in E. Andersson Strand, M. Gleba, U. Mannering, C. Munkholt, M. Ringgaard (eds.), North European Symposium for Archaeological Textiles X, 247-251, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2009 M. Gleba, “Textile tools and specialisation in the Early Iron Age female burials”, in E. Herring and K. Lomas (ed.) Gender Identities in Italy in the First Millennium BC, BAR Int. Ser. 1983, 69-78, Oxford, Archaeopress
  • 2008 M. Gleba, “Auratae vestes: Gold textiles in the ancient Mediterranean” in C. Alfaro and L. Karali (ed.), Purpureae Vestes II, Vestidos, Textiles y Tintes: Estudios sober la produccion de bienes de consumo en la antiguidad, 63-80, Valencia, University of Valencia
  • 2007 M. Gleba, “Textile Production in Proto-Historic Italy: Towards a Better Understanding of the Craft in its Historic, Social and Economic Contexts”, In J. Swaddling and P. Perkins (eds.), Acts of Conference “Etruscans Now! Proceedings of the Symposium held at the British Museum, 2002. Part II, Etruscan Studies 10 (2004-2005), 3-9
  • 2007 M. Gleba, “Textile Production in Proto-Historic Italy: From Specialists to Workshops”, in C. Gillis and M. L. Nosch (eds.), Ancient Textiles. Production, Crafts and Society, 71-76, Ancient Textiles Series Vol. 1, Oxford, Oxbow Books
  • 2007 M. Gleba and J. M. Turfa, “Digging for archaeological textiles in museums: ‘New’ finds in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,” In A. Rast-Eicher, R. Windler (eds.), Archäologische Textilfunde - Archaeological Textiles, NESAT IX - Braunwald 18.-21. Mai 2005, 35-40, Ennenda
  • 2005 N.T. de Grummond, S.V. Polin, M. Gleba, L.A. Chernih, M.N. Daragan, “The first campaign of Alexandropol barrow renewed excavations”, in The Phenomenon of Bosporan Kingdom, Proceedings of the International Conference, 272-282, Saint- Petersburg: the State Hermitage Museum Editors House (in Russian)
  • 2004 M. Gleba, “Textile Production in Protohistoric Italy: The Use of Implements in Reconstructing the ‘Missing’ Craft”, in E. De Sena and H. Dessales (eds.), Metodi e approcci archeologici: l’industria e il commercio nell’Italia antica/Archaeological Methods and Approaches: Ancient Industry and Commerce in Italy, 1-11, BAR International Series 1262
  • 2004 M. Gleba, “Linen Production in Pre-Roman and Roman Italy”, in C. Alfaro, J.P. Wild, B. Costa (eds.), Purpureae vestes: Actas del I Symposium Internacional sobre Textiles y Tintes del Mediterráneo en época romana (Ibiza, 8 al 10 de noviembre, 2002), 29-38, València: Universitat de València
  • 2002 R. Bernbeck, S. Pollock, S. Allen, A.G. Castro Gessner, R. Costello, S. Kielt Costello, M. Foree, M. Gleba, M. Goodwin, P. Horan, S. Lepinski, C. Nakamura, S. Niebur and R. Shoocongdej, “Preliminary Report on the 2000 Season at Fıstıklı Höyük,” in N. Tuma and J. Velibeyolu (eds.), The Salvage Project of the Archaeological Heritage of the Ilisu and Carcemish Dam Reservoirs. Activities 2000, 1-39, Ankara: Middle East Technical University
  • 2000 M. Gleba, “Textile Production at Poggio Civitate (Murlo) in the 7th c. BC”, in D. Cardon and M. Feugère (eds.), Archéologie des textiles des origines au Ve siecle, Actes du colloque de Lattes, oct. 1999, 75-80, Monographies Instrumentum 14, Éditions Monique Mergoul
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