Textile Production
The earliest textile fragment found in mainland Greece was discovered in Mycenae’s Grave Circle B (circa 1600-1550 B.C.), and is a piece of thin linen that either belonged to a garment or was part of the shroud itself.
Ri-no (𐀪𐀜) and ma-ri (𐀔𐀪) are the Mycenaean Linear B words for linen and wool, respectively. The skilled women who worked flax were called rineja, and those who worked wool were called wewesijeja.
Tablets from Pylos, Mycenae, and Knossos give us additional details about the Mycenaean textile industry, and list other jobs related to textile production: dyers, spinners, finishers, sheep-shearers, and fullers. Most of these tasks were done by women; at Mycenae, men called kanapeu did the fulling. The textile workers lived on large plantations around the palace, and the palace administration both trained and looked after them; the Linear B tablets list rations for large groups of women and their children, who worked alongside them.
You can read more about Mycenaean textiles here.
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