Margarita GlebtcF ig u re 4 2 .1 0 Mineralized textile remains from the Tomba della Montagnola at Sesto Fiorentino,
seventh century b c e: a-b) tabby from bronze armour; c) twill from funerary bed.
Courtesy of Larissa Bonfante.Furtherm ore, yarns o f opposite twists were frequently com bined to create spin-patterned
tw ills, as in the cases o f Verucchio and Sasso di Furbara. The reason for this tendency
m ay be aesthetic, but it also reflects the know ledge o f technique and appreciation o f
the subtlety o f spin pattern. B y the H ellenistic period, there is evidence o f tapestry
w eaving, as illustrated by the elaborate representation o f figures dancing a war dance on
the trium phal mantle o f Vel Saties in the fourth century bce Francois Tom b, at V ulci.
The mantles and tunic-shaped garm ents found at Verucchio have been demonstrated
to be ceremonial garm ents 39 and their tablet-woven borders appear to be status markers
not only by their presence but also by their w idth bearing significance. The specifics o f
the presence o f spools in E arly Iron A g e burials o f Italy and the ubiquitous presence o f
borders in Etruscan garm ent representations further argue that these borders were not
purely decorative but com municated a very clear and im portant message o f status not
only to the Etruscans but also among other European E arly Iron A g e cultures. Tablet-
woven borders are also found on textiles from the princely burials in Central and W estern
Europe (e.g. H allstatt, A ustria; H ochd orf and H ohm ichele, Germ any; E l C igarralejo,
Spain).40 Moreover, the toga, the Rom an descendant o f the Verucchio m antles, retained
the border as the status sym bol, in this case dyed purple.
ab