Each fragment of fabric is a document indicating its cultural environment. The raw materials used and the technique with which it has been made enable us to infer the tools and knowledge of its contemporaries, while the decorative composition tells us about its geographical location and its symbolic world.
Many of these pieces have been passed down to us through different hands and much of the information on their context has been lost. In spite of the above, apart from their undeniable aesthetic appeal, these objects represent an 'encyclopaedic' compendium of the general features of pre-industrial textile creation in different parts of the world.