Mary Spanos - Anthropological Textiles

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A PDF version of the following information is available for downloading and printing.

Mary Spanos examining Osceola's Garter at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

October 20, 2010

Mary Spanos
Textile Anthropologist

116 Portsouth Lane
Alabaster, Alabama 35007-3041
(205) 901-1732
mary@anthropologicaltextiles.com
www.anthropologicaltextiles.com

Education
  • M.A., University of Alabama, Anthropology, 2006
  • B.S., University of South Alabama, Computer Science, 1980

Professional Experience
  • Textile Anthropologist, 2005-present
    • University of South Alabama, 2008-present, Researching and producing clothing and textile props for prehistoric and early historic natural history museum figures
    • Alabama Archaeological Society Web Editor and Photo Archivist, 2009-present ( www.alabamaarchaeology.org)
    • Alabama Archaeological Society Newsletter Editor, 2008 ( see the 2008 issues of Stones & Bones online)
    • MACTEC, Inc., 2007, Editor for Phase II CRM reports
    • Jacksonville State University, 2005, Textile analysis and report for Hammonds site, 1Dk71
  • Associate Editor, Spin-Off Magazine, 2002-2003
  • Technical Editor, Spin-Off Magazine, 1997-2003
  • Computer Systems Architect and Software Developer, 1979-2002

Research Interests
  • Prehistoric and early historic textiles, processes, and tools
  • Native American textiles in the prehistoric and early historic eras
  • Ethnographic spinning and weaving traditions


Presentations

"Southeastern Indian Textiles: From the Prehistoric Period to Removal." A lecture in the Architreats lecture series at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama, June, 2010. A video of this presentation is available on the ADAH web site.

“Recreating Southeastern Indian Textiles.” Southwest Chapter of the Alabama Archaeological Society, Mobile, Alabama, May 18, 2010.

“Public Archaeology: Balancing a Need for Clothed Museum Figures with a Limited Archaeological Record.” Seventy-fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology St. Louis, Missouri, April 2010. ( A PDF version of this poster presentation is available. It can be printed by choosing the printer option that automatically adjusts the object to fit the printer's margins.)

“Balancing a Need for Clothed Museum Figures with a Limited Archaeological Record.” Annual Winter Meeting of the Alabama Archaeological Society, January 9, 2010.

“Clothing Museum Figures for Woodland and Mississippian Dioramas: Searching for Garments Among Textile Impressed Potsherds.” Sixty-sixth Annual Southeastern Archaeology Conference, Mobile Alabama, November 2009.

“Family Clothes or Industrial Textiles: A Comparison of Textile Impressions From Two Alabama Salines.” Alabama Public Forum on Archaeology, Montgomery, Alabama, February 2009.

"Anthropological Textiles", guest lecturer for Clothing, Textiles, and Design class 261, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, February 13, 2009.

"Textile Evidence from Pottery: Hammonds (1Dk71), Dekalb County, Alabama. Huntsville Chapter of the Alabama Archaeological Society, Huntsville, Alabama. January 27, 2009.

“A Comparison of Textiles Impressed on Ceramics at Beckum Village (1Ck24) and Salt Creek (1Ck222), Clarke County, Alabama.” Seventy-second Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology Austin, Texas, April 2007.

“Mississippian Textiles at Beckum Village (1Ck24), Clarke County, Alabama.” Alabama Archaeological Society, Birmingham Chapter, Birmingham, Alabama, September 2007.

“Family Clothes or Industrial Textiles: A Comparison of Textile Impressions From Two Alabama Salines.” Sixty-third Annual Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Little Rock, Arkansas, November 2006.

“Cord Marked or Fabric Impressed: A Guide for Artifact Identification.” Sixty-second Annual Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Columbia, South Carolina, November 2, 2005.

“Textiles Used in Salt Production: Evidence from South Alabama” (Ashley Dumas and Mary Spanos). Seventieth Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 2, 2005.

“Alabama’s Prehistoric Cloth.” Alabama Archaeological Society, Birmingham Chapter, Birmingham, Alabama, November 18, 2004.


Publications

“Osceola’s Garter: A Nineteenth Century Native American Textile” (Mary Spanos, Virginia Wimberley, and Amanda Thompson). Alabama Heritage, pp. 34-35 (2008).

“Osceola’s Garter: An Analysis of a Nineteenth Century Native American Textile” (Mary Spanos, Virginia Wimberley, and Amanda Thompson). Florida Anthropologist 60(2-3), pp. 139-152 (2007).

Mississippian Textiles at Beckum Village (1CK24), Clarke County, Alabama. M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (2006).

“An Analysis of Textile Impressed Pottery at the Hammonds Site (1Dk71).” In Hammonds Site (1Dk71) Report, edited by Rebecca T. Ridley. Jacksonville State University Archaeological Research Laboratory, Anniston, Alabama (chapter submitted at completion of analysis contract 2005, report is in press).

“Duet for a Silk Brick” (Carol H. Rhoades and Mary Spanos). Spin-Off, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 50-56 (2004).

“A Lincoln Stole” (Mary Spanos and Pia Cusick). Spin-Off, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 37-39 (2004).

“Spinning Soft Yarn with a Handspindle.” Spin-Off, Vol. 27, No. 4, pp. 44-47 (2003). (A PDF of this article is available for personal use.)

“Knitted Handwarmers.” Spin It: Making Yarn from Scratch by Lee Raven. Interweave Press, Loveland, Colorado, p 27 (2003).

“Spinning Soft Yarn.” Spin-Off, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 44-47 (2003). (A PDF of this article is available for personal use.)

“Silk Scarves.” Spin-Off, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 58-61 (2003).

“The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival” (Rita Buchanan and Mary Spanos). Spin-Off, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 34-36 (2001).

“Needlepoint Color Wheel.” Spin-Off, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 35-38 (2000).

“Cool Icelandic Stripes.” Spin-Off, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 25-28 (2000).

“Silk Ribbons.” Spin-Off, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 40-42 (1999).

“Coopworth Vest.” Spin-Off, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 57-61 (1999).

“Summer Cardigan.” Interweave Knits, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 22-25 (1997).

“Shy Norwegian Cardigan.” Spin-Off, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 78-81 (1996).

“Why White?” Spin-Off, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 40-41 (1996).

“Christmas Stocking Ornament.” Socks, Rita Buchanan and Deborah Robson (editors), Interweave Press, Loveland, Colorado, pp. 52-54 (1994).

“Turning a Left-Handed Wheel into a Right-Handed Wheel.” Spin-Off, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 108-110 (1993).

“Gartha and Olber Ray.” Spin-Off, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 34-35 (1993).


Book Reviews

Embroidery from India and Pakistan by Sheila Paine, Miao Textiles from China by Gina Corrigan, Printed and Dyed Textiles from Africa by John Gillow, Textiles from Guatemala by Ann Hecht. Spin-Off, Vol. 26, No. 2 (2002).

Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments by Delamare and Guineau. Spin-Off, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 21-22 (2002).

Knitted Trims by Ginger Luters (video). Spin-Off, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 15-16 (2001).

Latvian Dreams by Joyce Williams. Spin-Off, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 14-15 (2001).

Creating Original Hand-knitted Lace by Margaret Stove. Spin-Off, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 8-9 (1996).



Grants and Awards
  • 2007-2008. National Alumni Association Graduate Fellow. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
  • 2005-2006. Graduate Teaching Assistantship. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
  • October 2006, Graduate Student Research and Travel Support Award. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.


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