Runic Spindle Whorl Recently Found in Orkney

Unit I 10,12

The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199263127.003.0036 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Penelope M. Allison

Keyword(s):

The South ◽

The West ◽

West Wall ◽

South Wall ◽

C 50 ◽

Spindle Whorl

The walls of this unit have coarse plaster and the pavement was of cocciopesto. There appears to have been a wooden stairway along the west wall, two stone blocks (each of h.: c.50 mm, and dimensions: c.450 mm × 350 mm) 2.2 m from the south wall and set at right angles to the wall forming the base. Elia reported that no finds were made here. However, the excavators recorded: part of an inscribed amphora, probably a spindle and a spindle whorl, and a small ceramic pot, on the pavement; a bronze lock bolt at 2.5 m above the pavement; and an iron door key and two nails in the lapilli. According to Elia, this was a workshop. An entrance in the east wall had been closed when a latrine was added to room 31 in the Casa del Menandro. An inscription, painted in black, was observed near the blocked doorway to the latter room. Elia believed that this unit had originally been part of the Casa del Menandro but had been separated from it and was disused at the time of the eruption. The finds, while rather small and loseable, might point to its use as a location for spinning during its final occupancy phase.

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Spindle Whorls from El Purgatorio, Peru, and Their Socioeconomic Implications

Latin American Antiquity ◽

10.7183/1045-6635.27.3.414 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 414-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Melissa Vogel ◽

Kristin Buhrow ◽

Caroline Cornish

Keyword(s):

Capital City ◽

Form And Function ◽

Spindle Whorls ◽

The Subject ◽

And Function ◽

Archaeological Analysis ◽

Exchange Patterns ◽

Spindle Whorl ◽

Insight Into

In the Andean region, spindle whorls have been the subject of archaeological analysis less often than other artifact classes, such as pottery. Nevertheless, spindle whorls may have much more to contribute to archaeological interpretations of production, status, and exchange patterns than previously acknowledged. The case study presented here examines the spindle whorl collection from the site of El Purgatorio, Peru, the capital city of the Casma polity (ca. A.D. 700–1400). Spindle whorls were not only expertly crafted utilitarian tools for spinning yarn, but also items of personal adornment, symbols of wealth or status, and possible indicators of intra-polity exchange patterns. The analysis of spindle whorls in regard to form and function provides insight into Casma social and economic organization. The spindle whorls discovered at El Purgatorio also reflect varying degrees of standardization and technical knowledge, suggesting that at least some may have been manufactured by specialists in metallurgical and ceramic workshops.

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SEYITOMER MOUND MİDDLE BRONZE AGE LİNE DECORATİON SPİNDLE WHORLS

IEDSR Association ◽

10.46872/pj.335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (15) ◽

pp. 136-151

Author(s):

Hülya KARAOĞLAN

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

Human Beings ◽

Mixed Composition ◽

The North ◽

Spindle Whorls ◽

Line Angle ◽

Middle Bronze Age ◽

Spindle Whorl ◽

Made In

Since prehistoric times, human beings have decorated their daily items such as tools, utensils, pots and fugitives by applying ornaments with various techniques. These decorations are not only haphazardly but also systematically and as works of art. Seyitömer Mound is located 30 km northwest of Kütahya Province in the north of Afyon-Altıntaş-road in Seyitömer Town of Kütahya. Nine years of uninterrupted excavations were carried out by the Kütahya Dumlupınar University Archeology Department in Seyitömer Mound. During the excavations carried out in Seyitömer Mound , spindle whorls dating back to the Middle Bronze Age and used in rope spinning are quite common. Decorations in various compositions were applied on these finds using the scraping technique. These decorations are divided into groups as Mixed Composition, Bow, Line, Angle, Zigzag and Star, Point, Nail, Ring, Wave, Radial Decoration. In this study, in Seyitömer Mound spindle whorl finds BC. twenty one spindle whorls belonging to the 2nd millennium and decorated (marked) with "arc-shaped" decoration were studied. In this spindle whorls group, many compositions have been created from arc-shaped lines. These compositions were mostly made in groups of nested double-triple-quadruple arcs, four-five. In the study, drawings of Seyitömer Mound bow-shaped spindle whorls, their location, dimensions and descriptions were added as a catalog. In addition, its contemporaries and similar peripheral centers are specified with a compared bibliography. The aim of the study is to include this group of finds, which is important for archaeological research, into the literature.

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Beyond Textiles: Alternative Uses of Twisted Fibres and Evidence from Akrotiri, Thera

Światowit ◽

10.5604/01.3001.0012.8471 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

pp. 75-88

Author(s):

Sophia Vakirtzi ◽

Fragoula Georma ◽

Artemis Karnava

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Wall Paintings ◽

Textile Production ◽

Textile Manufacture ◽

Fibre Products ◽

Technical Properties ◽

Spindle Whorl ◽

The Bronze Age

Fibre crafts are among the oldest technological practices of mankind. Although commonly associated with textile manufacture, twisted fibres in the form of threads have always had a wider range of use in everyday life. Strings and ropes constitute a humble but essential category of fibre products deriving from the same technology and organic matter as threads. Due to their organic nature, however, they are rarely preserved in the archaeological record, unless special environmental conditions occur. This paper explores the research potential of the imprints of threads and strings in a study focusing on the alternative uses of fibre-spun artefacts. The focus is on the Bronze Age Aegean imprints of threads and strings preserved on objects made of clay and on wall paintings recovered at Akrotiri on Thera. The technical properties of the original threads and strings are evaluated through observation of their imprints, and the fibre technology used for their production is assessed. The methodologies of spindle whorl metrology and experimental spinning are also integrated in the discussion. Ultimately, the use of threads and strings for a variety of purposes, including but not limited to textile production, is discussed.

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Bone Carving of the Kamianka Sich

Archaeology ◽

10.15407/arheologia2021.03.130 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 130-145

Author(s):

Anatolii Volkov ◽

Keyword(s):

Everyday Life ◽

18Th Century ◽

General Characteristic ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Archaeological Research ◽

Common Features ◽

Bone Powder ◽

Short Period ◽

The Everyday ◽

Spindle Whorl

The manufacture of different bone items as well as treatment of bone and horn used to be among the oldest types of crafts. For centuries, people have used bone because of its prevalence and easy processing. In the 16th—18th centuries, bone continued to be used as one of the materials, but it did not receive wide distribution among Cossack crafts. Though the well-known bone powder flasks decorated with complex and intricate carvings were in usage among Cossacks, the article deals with simpler and more common in everyday life things — such as knife handle bone plates, borers, a spindle whorl, and etc. Today we have the opportunity to explore this specific type of craft on the example of archaeological finds from one of the Zaporizhzhia Siches — the Kamianka Sich. Mass osteological material in many cases contains traces of deliberate processing or attempts to give the bone a certain shape, to obtain a product from bone or horn. Analyzing the finds of several archaeological seasons, one can deduce some common features of bone items, get an idea of spreading of this craft and its significance, and discover the everyday life of the Cossacks at the beginning of the 18th century. The article examines bone finds made from the beginning of the 1970-ies, and also contains their general characteristic and common features. A special attention is focused on bone products; the "portion" types of bones and the production waste left during manufacture of the bone items is briefly described. One of the main purpose of this article is to introduce into a scientific circulation a number of objects made of bone, on the same territory in a fairly short period of existence of the Kamianka Sich (1709—1711 and 1728—1734). Nowadays, unfortunately, we cannot derive a comparative analysis of the finds of bone production from other Siches or Cossack handicraft objects, but we can get an idea of the development of this type of craft using as examples the finds from the Kamianka Sich. Further archaeological research may reveal the presence of the bone carving workshop on this territory.

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