The title of this volume – ‘Pre-Roman’ rather than ‘Prehistoric’ Italy – serves to emphasize that the question of the antecedents of the Roman-period textile industry of the peninsula (on which we are moderately well informed through literature and the epigraphic and archaeological record) has hitherto been almost unexplored. The handful of published textile finds, including the remarkable garments from the eighth-century burials at Verucchio near Rimini, illuminate but do not offer a balanced picture of prehistoric textile manufacture in Italy. That can only be derived from a comprehensive examination of surviving textile implements and scraps of textile, viewed in a wider European context.

Dr Gleba has risen admirably to that formidable challenge. The scattered – often barely accessible – archaeological literature has been combed minutely for information on finds of tools and textiles and extensive site and museum visits were undertaken between 2000 and 2003. Neither task was for the faint-hearted. The resulting study comprises seven chapters – essentially three basic discussions: the background (cultural history, character of the source material); a corpus of the surviving archaeological material (textiles, tools) with a consideration of the technological background; and an evaluation of that corpus in broader archaeological, economic and social terms.

The opening chapter offers a clear, crisp and up-to-date thumbnail sketch of the ‘cultures’ of prehistoric Italy, reviewed regionally and chronologically: it is a valuable point of reference. In the following chapter on the nature of the sources (particularly good on iconography) the author bemoans the past and present lack of regard in Italy for archaeological textile finds – a problem which is in fact Europe-wide, despite pockets of intense recent research.

The core chapters (3 and 4) reveal the extent and depth of Dr Gleba’s data collection. She separates her résumé of textile finds (pp 43–63 and table 2) from her account of the much weightier corpora of textile tools (tables 3–7) and appends to each the appropriate technical explanations. There is perhaps a risk here of giving the impression that tools and textiles belong to two different spheres; yet there is no obvious ‘right way’ of creating a seamless narrative, and Dr Gleba’s approach has the merit of clarity.

The discussions of individual stages in production (fibre harvesting, dyeing, spinning, weaving, etc) are necessary and helpful, but occasionally miss relevant points. The account of flax processing (pp 91–2), for instance, repeats Pliny’s familiar scheme, though in early prehistory (and later) the fibres may have been stripped by hand from the stem without recourse to the more advanced retting, breaking, scutching and hackling. Spindles (p 103) do not need a hook or any kind of yarn-retaining device at the tip. The debate about the use of the curious and numerous terracotta ‘spools’ in tablet weaving (pp 138–53) is fascinating, but the lengthy argument could have been more conveniently developed in an appendix.

Archaeologists bemused by the technology should feel more at ease in the final three chapters, the first of which treats of the contexts in which textiles and tools have come to light. There is a particularly valuable and thoughtful appraisal of the special implications of textile tools as grave furniture (pp 171–8). The textile finds, though meagre, indicate strong influence from central Europe on technological developments in Italy, for example, in twill weaving. On a more general level, evidence from the geographical and diachronic distribution of key textile implements, such as loom-weights, for centralized and specialized textile production by the end of the seventh century bc can be viewed against the backdrop of the growth of urban centres in Italy with their stratified social and economic systems. Textiles thus join the mainstream of artefact studies contributing to a broader understanding of the development of Italian society before the rise of Rome.

The bibliography is comprehensive and, given the obscurity of some of the entries, is an important working tool in its own right. Images have been carefully selected, and any temptation to illustrate too many items from the corpora firmly resisted.

There are a few minor points of criticism. More hawk-eyed proof-reading, particularly of captions and tables, might have prevented several slips (‘shevron’ for ‘chevron’ twice in table 2b on p 85, for example). Fig 71 (p 98) shows a wild teasel, not the cultivated teasel with hooked bracts used for raising the nap in cloth finishing. The wealth of references in the text is almost overwhelming. In some places the authors of useful compendia are accorded more respect than they really deserve!

On a very positive note: Dr Gleba has given us the first all-embracing survey and in-depth evaluation of the evidence for prehistoric textile production in any single European country. Her work should serve as a model and inspiration to others to examine the evidence in other regions.