The rise and fall of broadloom weaving among the Yoruba: an historical overview

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Periodical article

Title:	The rise and fall of broadloom weaving among the Yoruba: an historical overview
Author:	Asakitikpi, Aretha O.
Year:	2006
Periodical:	Research Review (ISSN 0855-4412)
Volume:	22
Issue:	1
Pages:	73-81
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs.
Geographic terms:	Nigeria West Africa
Subjects:	weaving Yoruba gender roles History, Archaeology Yoruba (African people)--History Textile fabrics, Yoruba Looms
Abstract:	The rise of broadloom weaving among the Yoruba of Nigeria may be prehistoric in origin. Most of the evidence to support hypotheses about the origins of weaving among the Yoruba is taken from oral accounts. The earliest archaeological evidence of clothing among the Yoruba was found in Ife and the Igbomina town of Esie and is dated between the 12th and 15th centuries AD. There appears to have been a time when broadloom weaving was a major occupation for both men and women. It is likely that men were the original weavers and that later, with the introduction of the narrow loom, men shifted to the latter technology. Narrow loom weaving had a wider import, which meant more income for the weavers. By the 1960s, the broadloom weaving of Yoruba women was nearly extinguished, amongst others as a result of the influx of cheap European cloth. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French. [ASC Leiden abstract]