Greek Sparto: Past and Present

Abstract

Sparto, a perennial broom, grows wild in the mountainous and semi-mountainous regions of the Mediterranean. Throughout antiquity Greeks processed the plant for its fibers, which they hand braided and loom wove into rope and textiles. Archaeological material and ancient testimonia demonstrate the extensive use of sparto as a raw material in Greek culture over a long period. Nevertheless, scholars consistently overlook the widespread exploitation of sparto in the manufacture of everyday objects in antiquity. However, the plant's importance may be properly assessed by modern Greeks. My field research in the Western Peloponesos reveals that the utilization and processing of sparto in recent times follows that described in ancient sources. The earliest archaeological evidence from sparto comes from a late, third-century (BC) Neolithic cave in Spain and includes various articles of clothing. The earliest Greek evidence comes from Homer who refers to ships' cords as “sparto” in the Illiad. Thereafter, a number of ancient authors mention sparto products that show close relationships to items made from the plant until recently. Moreover, Pliny's extended comments on sparto processing in the first century AD strikingly conform to the technical information supplied by modern Greeks.