How old is tablet weaving anyway? The earliest piece I know of is 9-8th c. BCE (Etruscan), and by the 5th c. BCE it was very well-established and complex (Hallstatt).
Why is there no tablet weaving in South America, or North America for that matter, even though there are other fabulously complex textiles?
How and when did tablet weaving get to India? Tibet?
How and when did tablet weaving get to Indonesia? It was well-established by the time western European textile collectors showed up in the 19th c.
I’m sitting outside in the finally-cooling courtyard with the last of the day’s cicadas and the first of the evening’s fireflies thinking about these sorts of things. I realize these are mostly-unanswerable questions, but I can’t help but think that much valuable evidence lies unrecognized in museum and private collections around the world.
