E.J.W. Barber is Professor of Linguistics and Archaeology at Occidental College and is a handweaver. Prehistoric Textiles won the Millia Davenport Publication Award of the Costume Society of America.
This monumental study embraces linguistic and archaeological investigations, practical knowledge of weaving, palaeobiology, and other arcane sciences to trace the development of cloth. -- Washington Post Book World Packed full of useful and intriguing information ... also remarkably well written. This conjunction of virtues advances archaeological understanding of textiles and their social and cultural implications a giant step. -- Trudy S. Kawami, Science An exhilarating book. As the first comprehensive account of one of humanity's oldest industries, it will be a basic tool for archaeologists... -- Helen Hughes Brock, Antiquity