What is a spindle whorl used for?
Spindle whorls were used to weight spindles when hand-spinning yarn. They were made in a variety of materials including stone, ceramic fragments and fired clay.
How old are spindle whorls?
Date. Stoneware spindle whorls were common in the first half of the 16th century (Gaimster 1997, 248-250; fig. 104), possibly within a wider date range (Hurst and Moorhouse 1981).
What is a spindle whorl bead?
A spindle whorl is a disc or spherical object fitted onto the spindle to increase and maintain the speed of the spin. For ages the whorls have been made of many different materials: amber, antler, bone, ceramic, coral, glass, metal (iron, lead, lead alloy), and wood (oak).
What is a medieval spindle?
A medieval spindle typically had a very small, light, removable whorl, usually at the bottom of the shaft, that was made of clay, bone, stone, or lead. When a sufficiently large cop has built up on the spindle, you can remove the whorl because the cop itself acts as a whorl.
How does a spindle whorl work?
Spindle Whorl Process The raw fibers of plants or animal wool (called roving) are attached to the dowel, and the spindle is then made to rotate, in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion, twisting and compressing the fibers as it collects them on top of the whorl.
What were spindle whorls made of terracotta and faience?
Spindle whorls (made of terracotta and faience) were used to spin fibres into thread. Things were made by specialists, people who were trained to do only one kind of work. Raw materials to make things came from either natural or human-made resources.
How is takli used?
Takli is a simple device (a hand spindle), used for spinning. Spinning is the process of making yarn from fibre.
What’s the difference between modern spindles and medieval spindles?
One of the most obvious of these differences: Medieval-style spindles, as opposed to modern spindles, don’t have the whorl attached permanently. Instead, the shape of the two pieces makes it possible to attach the whorl to the tapering stick by just pushing it on.
What was the purpose of lead spindle whorls?
A moulded lead spindle whorl (a weight used on a spindle for spinning fibres in textile manufacture) of probable later medieval date 1100-1600 AD. (FindID 460413).jpg 796 × 809; 209 KB
Why does the whorl slip off a medieval spindle?
Most times, however, the spindle whorl slips off because the cop of yarn is pressing against it. If you look at medieval images of spindles, you can see that the yarn is in a sort of rugby-ball-shape or spindle-shape, and it is usually quite clearly wound onto the middle of the spindle stick, with a distance to the whorl.
Why are spindle whorls important to ancient weavers?
The presence of a spindle whorl on an archaeological site is an indication of the technological advance of textile production called spinning. Spinning is the process of creating cords, yarn or thread from raw plant, animal, and even metal fibers.