Archaeological discoveries and the progress of analytical techniques of identification of colorants on ancient textiles have allowed to complement the information on ancient dyes and dyeing techniques that had long been available only through written sources. The long and prestigious prehistory of the art of dyeing is now emerging.
This oral presentation will examine the sources of the colours that can be admired on ancient textiles from different civilizations along the Silk Roads and propose comparisons between the dyeing techniques used for silk and the other fibres at different prehistoric and historical periods.
This will be done by presenting successively different groups of dyes: purple, both from sea mollusks and from plants; red insect dyes, lac and carmine Coccids; the issue of madder reds ; indigo plants and their traditional vats ; the wealth of plant sources of yellow dyes and the possibilities they offer to characterize a civilization.
