The manufacture of textiles and garments had a long tradition in the Aegean already prior to the beginnings of the Early Bronze Age. Numerous textile tools, especially spindle whorls and loom weights, are preserved from the Neolithic sites which demonstrate that spinning with spindle whorls and weaving on the warp-weighted loom were commonly practiced. Plant fibres, particularly linen, seem to have been the main material for the production of cloth and textiles during this period. At some point, most probably during the Early Bronze Age, animal fibres (sheep wool) began to be used in the Aegean on a wider scale. Since hardly any Neolithic and Early Bronze textiles are preserved from the Aegean, we can study textile tools made of stone, bone and clay in order to comprehend technological traditions and innovations in textile production.
Diachronic changes in the use of spindle whorls and loom weights (their weights, dimensions and shapes) may shed some light on alternations in not only fibre use, but also in various spinning and weaving techniques. In this paper I would like to focus on chosen aspects of textile implements from Early Bronze Age Peloponnese.
Author - Dr. Siennicka, Malgorzata, University of Copenhagen, København S., Denmark (Presenting author)