Se manda adjunto el anuncio enviado al grupo de Interés en [artefactos de] Fibras Perecibles del SAA. Se invitan propuestas sobre el análisis de objetos textiles de la región andina. Es un foro que trata de textiles y otros objetos de fibra orgánica de cualquier parte del mundo, y el proceso organizativo se lleva en inglés, pero también es posible presentar la ponencia en español. Para mayor información, comunica con Ann Peters.

At the 2014 SAA meeting in Austin, the Fiber Perishables Interest group will sponsor a symposium titled Learning from destruction: patterns of decay, production techniques, and evidence for use of fiber artifacts. The full description of the symposium is below. This is the topic, suggested by Ann Peters, that members chose at the 2013 FPIG business meeting in Honolulu. If you would like to present a paper at this symposium, please submit an abstract to Ann Peters for evaluation ( Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activar JavaScript para visualizarla ). Abstracts should be 200 words or less. Please send them to Ann by July 15, 2013.

Learning from destruction: patterns of decay, production techniques, and evidence for use of fiber artifacts
Session Chair: Ann H. Peters
Sponsored by the Fiber Perishables Interest Group

The fragility of fiber and textile artifacts limits the contexts in which they are preserved and complicates their archaeological analysis. Because of their roles in personal adornment, wealth accumulation, toolkits and rituals, these artifacts remain a rich source of information.

Perishable materials are sensitive indicators of their own physical and chemical history; patterns of damage and decay may provide data on production, use, treatment and arrangement in the deposition context. Dye techniques, use wear, spatial arrangement, ritual destruction, imprints of other objects, libations, and exposure are a few examples of cultural practices that modify fiber artifacts and can contribute to their subsequent transformation.

Careful field techniques improve recovery of both organic artifacts and spatial evidence for their presence, providing better context for those fragments that reach the laboratory. Advances in conservation practices and imaging techniques expand our research options while reducing loss in artifact analysis and storage. Wherever they are preserved, textiles provide an abundance of data that should be fully explored. This symposium will gather powerful examples of the analytic potential of differential preservation, to demonstrate how their very patterns of destruction turn fiber artifacts into a privileged source for information on ancient practices.