Author: Alexandra Makin

Present: Now my first book, 'The Lost Art of the Anglo-Saxon World: the sacred and secular power of embroidery', is out (see blog), I am concentrating on the Cuthbert recreation project (also see blog and Instagram: @alexandramakin2). I am also working on an article exploring how people viewed embroidery in early medieval England, which I hope will be published later this year. In between these projects I am in the early stages of organising an edited volume based on the well received session I organised and ran at the IONA conference in Vancouver, Canada, last April. Keep an eye on the blog and Twitter (@alexandra_makin) for updates. I am consulting / advising on a number of textile and embroidery projects, and working as an independent analyst of textiles and embroideries from different contexts. During 2020 I will be giving papers at conferences in the UK and Finland. I am also giving lectures and presentations to a number of academic and special interest groups around the country. Background: I am a trained professional embroiderer with a background in Archaeology and textiles. Originally I trained at the Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court Palace, on their three year embroidery apprenticeship. My academic background includes a BA Honours degree in Archaeology from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a PhD in Anglo-Saxon Studies (University of Manchester). My PhD Research, titled ‘Embroidery and its context in the British Isles and Ireland during the early medieval period (AD 450-1100)’, has led to me being interviewed on various news and TV programs and in newspapers. I have published my first monograph, a number of papers in edited volumes and articles in popular magazines. I have also given lectures and run workshops on different aspects of embroidery, its history and its wider context to special interest groups and the general public. Research Interests: My areas of research focus on early medieval material culture, mainly embroidery, but other aspects too. I am particularly fascinated by how material culture entwined with and influenced early medieval life. I am interested in experimental archaeology and how this can inform our understanding of the objects we find, and data we gather from documentary and visual sources. Such approaches are also important in helping us understand working methods and organisation, and their development during the early medieval period. I have a special interest in the Bayeux Tapestry which has led to the uncovering of new facts about its embroidering. This research has led to me being interviewed and featured in local and national newspapers both in the UK and Normandy. I have also been interviewed for TV and radio in the UK and Canada. Groups: I am a member of The European Association for Archaeologists, the Society for Medieval Archaeology, the Archaeological Leather Group, the Finds Research Group, The Textile Society, The Medieval Society (University of Manchester), and MEDATS (Medieval Dress and Textiles Society). I am also a committee member of the Early Textiles Study Group.

Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles #9

Welcome to the March 2021 post. This is the second of the two-part installment about Viking textile production, Weaving Identities II. In this post Dolores Kearney continues where Mary Valente left off. Dolores focuses entirely, on Viking Dublin, approaching the women of that settlement and its textile production through the concept of the châine opératoire... Continue Reading →

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Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles #8

Welcome to the second installment of 2021's Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles Blog. We continue this year's series with a two-part post about Viking Age textile production. In 'Weaving Identities Part 1', Professor Mary Valante discusses Viking-Age evidence for textile production from rural Iceland, Scandinavia and Dublin, showing that it was vital to both the local... Continue Reading →

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Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles #7

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles post of 2021! We are starting the new year off with a bang. Celia Elliott-Minty has been weaving and braiding for about 40 years and in that time has explored most of the recognised techniques, although tablet weaving has remained her favourite. Following... Continue Reading →

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New Job

I’m pleased to announce that I’m joining the Archaeology Department at the University of Glasgow to work with Dr Susanna Harris as the textile Post Doc’ on the 3 year AHRC funded National Museum of Scotland & University of Glasgow ‘Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard’ project. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this... Continue Reading →

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My first peer reviewed article

I’m really excited about this! My first ever peer reviewed journal article, ‘Embroidery and it’s early medieval audience: a case study of sensory engagement’ has just been published online in World Archaeology. It can be accessed via this link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2020.1835530 Here’s a short abstract: Sensory archaeology is used to access the early medieval ‘mindset’ to... Continue Reading →

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Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles #5

Welcome to the fifth installment of ‘Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles’. This month Christina Petty discusses weaving 2/1 (unbalanced) twill weaves on warp-weighted looms: the evidence, the problems and her experimental archaeological approach to the weaving process. Chris’s passion for textiles started at the age eight. Today she is primarily a weaver, spinner and dyer, but... Continue Reading →

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Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles #4

Welcome to our fourth instalment of ‘Early Medieval (mostly) Textiles’. This month we are travelling through the Mediterranean, North Africa and Asia during Late Antiquity and the early medieval period, where we discover how the invention of steel needles changed weaving processes and the production of embroidery. Karen Carr was an Associate Professor of History... Continue Reading →

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