Yarn spinning in Byzantine & Medieval Argos
Dr. Susanne Metaxas Archaeological Work in the Peloponnese, 2nd Scientific Meeting, Kalamata, 1–4 November 2017
During the extensive rescue excavations conducted in Argos in the 80s-90s, a large part of the city´s Byzantine &
Medieval past was unearthed. Small finds belonging to the domain of textile production found during these excavations
are presented: spindle whorls and spindle hooks. Both are associated with the process of spinning, one of the most
important pre-industrial human activities, essential for all kinds of textile production and processing. As Byzantine &
Medieval spinning tools have insufficiently been studied, only ongoing publications and studies of such tools can in
future help to enhance our knowledge of their typology, function, contexts, distribution and date as well as their
connection to the private or commercial textile production in the Byzantine & Medieval Peloponnese.
SPINDLE WHORLS
Material: The spindle whorls found in Argos are made of a soft Size-shapes: As steatite is soft and easy to work, all spindle whorls
stone – probably steatite – in the colours purple, black and green are lathe-turned. Their height varies between 0.8–1.5 cm and their
(fig. 1). diameter between 1.0–2.6 cm, while the drilled central hole has a
standard diameter of 0.6–0.7 cm. The whorls have a flat side and
either a conical (a), a biconical (b-c) or a hemispherical (d-h) body
(fig. 3). Depending on the size, the weight varies between 5–20 gr.
a b c
Fig. 1 Colours of the steatite spindle whorls found in Argos d e
(©Byzantine Museum of Argolis)
Function: Their interpretation as whorls is based on the size and
shape of these objects, which have remained unchanged since f g h
Prehistory. Whorls were fixed on the lower or upper part of a
wooden spindle, functioning as a weight that provided its Fig. 3 Typology of the spindle whorls found in Argos. – 1:1
(Drawings: S. Metaxas)
continuous rotation (fig. 2). We assume that spindles were also
equipped with hooks that were found in the same contexts as
whorls. Dating: Missing contexts hamper the dating of the findings from
Decoration: a. The majority of the whorls display incised rilling – Argos. On the basis of identical parallel findings from neighbouring
b. Incised cross-hatched lines and circles with dots appear only on Corinth, where these whorls appear in abundant quantities, we can
Fig. 2
purple and black whorls – c. In rare cases the whorls are entirely determine a 11th–13th c. date. Stone whorls gradually became
plain. abundant in many other regions during the Middle Ages.
SPINDLE HOOKS BOTTOM WHORL DROP SPINDLES WITH
Material: The spindle hooks found in Argos are made of a folded sheet of copper HOOKS
alloy that tapers in a hook and an in an open socket (fig. 4).
Fig. 4 Spindle hook
c
(Drawing: S. Metaxas)
Fig. 5 Shapes of the spindle hooks found in Argos
(©Byzantine Museum of Argolis)
Function: Based on a finding in Corinth that preserved a hook on a wooden shaft
as well as on other modern findings (fig. 6) we can determine its function as a
spinning tool, placed on the top of a wooden spindle, with the aim of keeping the
yarn in place (fig. 6). However, we cannot exclude other functions within textile
production.
Size-shapes: The length of the spindle hooks varies between 3.5–5.0 cm (fig. 5),
while the diameter of the socket measures 0.6–0.7 cm. The hooks are either small a
and short or big and rounded. The hooks found in Argos are undecorated.
Dating: Missing contexts and the fact that these hooks constitute objects that have
been in use from the Early Roman period until Modern times throughout the
Mediterranean hamper their accurate dating. In Argos, hooks and whorls were Fig. 6 Spindles from Greece (a) and Fig. 7 Reconstruction of a
found together in the plots related to the Middle Byzantine city center. The findings South Italy (b-c), Byzantine bottom whorl
from neighbouring Corinth are also dated to the 12th-14th c. 19th-20th c., H=21-28 cm spindle with hook
(©B. Nutz, Univ. of Innsbruck, Austria) (Drawing: S. Metaxas)
References • G. R. Davidson, The Minor Objects (Corinth XII). Princeton 1952, pl. 78 nos. 1223-1228, pl. 124-125 nos. 2593-2621.
• http://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/excavationcorinth/digital-corinth.
Contact information • K. Gostenčnik, Die Spindelhaken aus Kupferlegierung vom Magdalensberg und aus Virunum in Kärnten. Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt 31 (2001) 571-579.
susanne.metaxas@yahoo.com • Δ. Αθανασούλης – Α. Βασιλείου (επιμ.), Βυζαντινό Μουσείο Αργολίδας. Κατάλογος μόνιμης έκθεσης. Αθήνα 2016, 202 cat. nos. 310-311 (S. Metaxas).
• https://www.uibk.ac.at/urgeschichte/projekte_forschung/abt/spindeltypologie/.
• www.landschaftsmuseum.de/Seiten/Lexikon/Spinnen.htm.
