Spindle Whorls

In the years 2008-2010 rescue excavations were conducted
on site 20 in Górzyca, Słubice county. During these works
they discovered, among others, a biritual cemetery of Roman
period. Among 85 graves one of the most interesting
was a young woman’s grave, marked as No. 9. In this text
its incredibly rich equipment was presented. Among the
artefacts the most interesting one is terra sigillata pot. The
other elements of grave complex equipment confirm the
opulence of this tomb. The following element are worth
mentioning: two ceramic pots, a necklace made of glass
and bone beads, a pendant begirded with a tape, a golden
spherical pendant, decorated stone and clay spindle
whorls, two keys, casket elements, bodkins made of bone
and metal, the fossil of Jurassic mollusk Pholadomya, or
the presence of animal bones. The riches of this grave complex
makes us call the woman buried here “a princess” of
Górzyca. Additionally to that, for the description of grave
No. 9’s sake, there were conducted the following technical
analyses: 1) jeweler’s (Stefański, Appendix No. 3); 2)
texture remains (Sikorski, Appendix No. 2); 3) numismatic
(Sikora, Appendix No. 3); 4) fossils (Jakubowski, Kurzawska,
Appendix No. 4); 5) petrographical (Szydłowski, Appenidx
No. 5); 6) anthropological (Wrzesińska, Appendix No. 6);
7) zooarchaeological (Osypińska, Appendix No. 7). On the
other hand, in the form of a separate article, the analysis
of terra sigllata bowl was presented (see L. Tyszler, in the
same volume).

Products resulted by small medium entreprises  needed by consumers are oriented to a large number of design variations, competitive prices, and relatively fast manufacturing time. The CNC router  3-axes machine, locally produced to be tested,  is a machine tool that works with 3 axes with functions for cutting, engraving and giving markings on hard flat materials. The purpose of this study is to provide analysis of the main spindle deviation of  X-axis, Y-axis and  Z-axis; and application of CNC router machines for granite granular materials for decoration purposes. The method used is an experimental research by conducting an experiment measuring the object of research to obtain measurement data and to be analyzed for the purposes of further action. It was found that deviation of the main spindle rotation is of 16.86% -47.35%, and axis movement deviation is ± 0.04 mm, which is above the permissible limit of <0.01 mm. The work that can be done with the CNC router  3-axes machine is the manufacture of creative products for decoration purposes,  but it needs a lot of design variations and does not require high precision.

" Colonial chroniclers marveled at the quality and variety of textiles produced at the Postclassic center of Cholula.  As a principal market center, textiles were produced for tribute and exchange while other woven goods were manufactured for local consumption.  This paper examines ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence to interpret the technology, materials, scale, and social relations of textile production.  Original spindle whorl data from the UA-1 domestic compound is contrasted with other archaeological whorls from Postclassic Cholula as well as from other sites in central Mexico.  Results of this analysis indicate the complexity of pre-Columbian textile production, and the significance of spinning and weaving for economic and social reconstructions of the past.

RESUMEN EN ESPAÑOL
Fuentes etnohistoricos describen los trajes prehispanicos de Cholula, ambas en las cronicas de los españoles e en los codices indigenas.  Desafortunadamente, los textiles no conservan bien como evidencia arqueológica, hasta que casi no existen ejemplares verdaderos de estos vestimentos.  En actualidad los arqueólogos dependan en la cultura material, especialmente los malacates, para interpretar la producción textil precolombino.  En este articulo hablamos de la producción textil en Cholula en base de fuentes etnohistoriscos y materiales arqueológicos, y incluimos los relaciones sociales de la producción.
En años recientes varios investigadores han estudiado los malacates de Mesoamerica para inferir materias de producción (Parsons 1972; Smith and Hirth 1988), cambios diacronicas (García Cook y Merino Carrión 1974), y cambios sociales con enfasis en el papel feminil (Brumfiel 1991; McCafferty y McCafferty 1988, 1991).  Utilizando malacates de la Cuenca de México, Parsons (1972) sugiera un división entre los de tamaño chico (para hilar algodón) y los grandes (para hilar ixtle, la fibra de la maguey).  En nuestro discusión sugerimos que los malacates de Cholula necessitan un modelo más diversa para incluir un rango mas eztensivo de materias, como plumas, pelo de conejo, chichicaztli (mala mujer), y palma, entre otros.
Investigamos tres problemas el el estudio:
1) La intensidad de producción en Cholula del Postclásico.
2) La utilización de materias, incluyendo algodón, ixtle, y otros (especialmente plumas).
3) El desarrollo social de producción, especialmente en respecto a genero.
Los malacates de Cholula estan discos perforados de barro.  Pueden ser medida en varios maneras: diametro, altura, peso, y diametro de perforación (Cuadras 1-5).  Muchas veces tienen decoración de molde o incisión, y varios tienen pintura negra de chapopote.  Todos que hemos encontrado provienen del Postclásico, indicando que antes la gente usaban malacates impermanentes, posiblemente de madera o barro secado en el sol. 
Malacates usados en nuestro estudio provienen de excavaciones domesticas, come UA-1 y UA-79 de los terrenos de la Universidad de las Américas, y un entierro multiple en San Andrés Cholula.  El corpus consisten de 237 malacates de contextos excavados, entre los concentraciones mas abundantes de Mesoamérica.  Asi podemos apoyar las fuentes etnohistoricas que Cholula sí era centro de producción textil.
Para inferir la utilización de materias, dividimos las malacates en 10 tipos, mas subtipos, definidos en Cuadra  6.  Cuatro de los tipos ocurren como más de 10% del total (Cuadra 7): Tipos B, D, E, y J.  Tipos B y E corresponden a tamaños asociados con malacates para algodón en el Valle de México, y Tipo J corresponde a los malacates grandes para hilar maguey.  El tipo más abundante, Tipo D (31%) es ligera como los de algodón, pero más ancho de diametro y con una perforación más grande que Tipos B y E.  El Tipo D producirá un hilo gruesa, y sin mucho torción.  Según Sahagún (1950-82, Libro 8:49), este correspondería a los malacates “llanos” que las usaban para hilar plumas.  En base de los datos de malacates, entonces los Cholultecas del Postclásico hilaban algodón, ixtle y plumas, y posiblemente otras materias todavía no identificadas.
Para interpretar dimensiones sociales de la producción textil de Cholula, consideramos restos incluidos con entierros de Cholula.  Las fuentes ethnohistoricas claramente relatan los processos de hilar y tejar como obras de mujeres (McCafferty y McCafferty 1991); en contraste, entierros de ambos mujeres y hombres incluyen malacates como ofrendas.  Por seguro es más común con mujeres, y los hombres enterrados en San Andrés Cholula pueden haber sido esclavos o servientes, y entonces no tan desarrollado por modos de genero.  Pero la evidencia que tenemos de los entierros implican que los representaciones de genero que hacemos de las fuentes no corresponden completamente con la “practica” que podemos ver en la tierra.
Otros rasgos de la producción textil incluyen tecnicas de hilar, especialmente la diferenciación entre el hilado por tirar (“drop-spinning”) y el hilado de soporte, que interpretamos en base to restos de uso (como marcas abrasivas  en el acabado) y la distribución de las malacates en sus contextos de deposición.
Por fin, consideramos evidencias decorativas en los malacates, con cambios diacronicos en patrones entre el Postclásico Temprano y el Postclásico Tardio.  Otro cambio relaciona con el uso de chapopote para pintar los malacates–este rasgo es más común en el Postclásico Temprano, y puede indicar interacciones culturales con la Costa del Golfo.
En conclusión, los malacates de Cholula indican un rango de información acerca de la producción textil y su desarrollo social.  Aunque casi no existan textiles prehispanicas de Mesoamérica, el análisis de los malacates, espcialmente cuando es relacionado con datos etnohistoricos, producen interpretaciones importantes sobre la cultura material de México antigua."

Mots-clés. Villa, artisanat, cuve, bassin, ensemble funéraire, pratique funéraire, dépôt, céramique, fusaïole, macrorestes, végétaux, faune, dendrochronologie, Divodurum, Médiomatriques.
Résumé. Une opération archéologique (2011) a permis la
reconnaissance intégrale d’une villa gallo-romaine, de ses annexes et des infrastructures connexes. La découverte a été réalisée à l’occasion de l’extension d’une zone d’activité commerciale, au sudest de Metz, dans le quartier de Grigy. L’article décrit brièvement la situation géographique et l’environnement archéologique avant de faire une présentation générale de l’organisation du site. Ensuite, la description archéologique des structures se divise en trois parties qui suivent une logique chronologique. Elles portent sur la présentation des structures protohistoriques, d’un ensemble funéraire gallo-romain précoce et enfin des vestiges de la villa, envisagés dans deux sous-parties axées respectivement sur la pars urbana et la pars rustica. Les équipements découverts dans la cour
de la pars rustica, notamment trois cuves en bois et un bassin
à plancher de bois particulièrement bien conservés, suggèrent
une activité artisanale. L’accent est porté sur l’identification de
cette (ces) activité(s) à la lumière de différentes études (mobilier en plomb, macrorestes végétaux) et analyses (chimie organique, minéralogie). Plusieurs hypothèses sont successivement examinées : l’exploitation du cuir (tannerie), du bois (vannerie, sparterie) et des fibres textiles (foulerie). L’interprétation s’oriente vers le trempage ou le rouissage de fibres végétales. La dernière partie revient sur le phasage chronologique, en y intégrant les principaux résultats de
l’étude du mobilier en céramique et en s’appuyant sur des datations absolues (radiométrie, dendrochronologie). L’occupation est ainsi scandée en quatre états qui permettent de proposer une date de fondation de la villa durant le dernier quart du ier s. av. J.-C. et une période d’abandon et de démantèlement située entre la fin du IVe s. et le début du Ve s. apr. J.-C.

Early medieval large glass beads from Poland: utilitarian and social functions Velké skleněné korále v raně středověkém Polsku: užitková a sociální funkce Aleksandra Pankiewicz-Sylwia Siemianowska The study focuses on the early medieval large glass beads from the area of Poland, i.e. specimens whose diameter equals at least 1.5 cm but usually ca. 2 cm or more. The main aim of this study is to define their function, considering precise context of discovery of particular specimens, metric data and microscopic analyses. Another important task of the study is to determine whether large beads were local products or imports, and from which region and in what social circumstances they reached the studied area. Alongside macroscopic and stylistic features, chemical composition of glass that was used for production of the beads can be conclusive in this situation. In our opinion, it is a special category of finds that appeared in this part of Europe during the time of cultural and political transformation in the 11 th-13 th centuries. glass beads-chemical composition-microscopic analysis-Early Middle Ages-Poland-social changes.

Alongside the Morava, the border river between Austria and Slovakia, a significant historico-cultural area developed from the Prehistory on. Fertile soil pandered to the procession of formation of settlements. Good transportation routes on land and water boosted the supra-regional contacts which ranged from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea. Also, medivial settlements as well as mottes are known from this region. The metal artefacts presented here, which were gathered around Bernhardsthal, Ringelsdorf, Drösing and Jedenspeigen, come from a private collection. The corpus of finds document the spectrum of metal everyday objects from clothes and jewellery of the Middle Ages. Finds from the late High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages predominate. Beside the common Europe-wide forms, some few stand out through meticulous workmanship and gilding. Most of the medivial finds were dated to the time as the settlement Drösing (around 1296) was relocated to a dry area to the West. Finds which are dated to the Early modern prove that the area of the abandoned settlement did not fall into oblivion. In the future, systematic excavations in the radius of the church, the medieval cemetry, the deserted village and the motte shall be conducted.

Spindle whorls are amongst the small objects most frequently recovered from Early and Middle Bronze Age cemeteries in Cyprus ( c. 2400–1650 BC ). Nonetheless, little has been done to investigate their meaning. This paper will explore the symbolism of spindle whorls and its possible implications for the construction of the deceased’ s identity. In particular, we will discuss the concept of whorls as sex /gender markers, and how and to what extent these artefacts may have played a role in the ideological
system of Early /Middle Cypriot society alluding to aspects of the personal, social, and group identities of the deceased. To do this, the investigation will follow a case-study design in which select burial contexts from the Early and Middle Cypriot sites of Erimi Laonin tou Porakou, Lapithos Vrysi tou Barba, and Galinoporni will be included. The analysis of different key elements related to the whorls’ deposition within the tombs examined ( e.g. formal characteristics, evidence for use-wear, location, relationship with bodies, and association occurrences ) and the identification of recurring patterns will facilitate a discussion on the reasons behind the transformation of these tools into grave goods.

The archaeological investigation of the Pyrgos site on Cyprus began in 1995, when the settlement of Mavrorachi was discovered near Limassol. In 1996 and 1997, the selected area was surveyed and exploratory digs were made. The stratigraphic excavation began in 1998.
From the geological standpoint, Pyrgos is in the southern coastal belt under the slopes of the Trodos massif, which stretches from the peninsula of Akrotiri (Gulf of Limassol) to the Gulf of Larnaca, and includes a large mining area. The archaeological site is on a rise at the centre of a large Early Bronze Age settlement whose excavated sections date from around 1950-2000 BCE. In eight digging seasons, the Italian  NRC’s  Archaeological Mission brought to light around 30 % of the architectural complex, which corresponds to the industrial area. The investigation is bringing to light a large, unitary, pseudo-palatial complex with an area of around 4000 square meters (calculated by means of geophysical prospecting and a geographic information system); it had been destroyed by an earthquake around 1850 BCE. An especially important discovery was the industrial area devoted to processing bronze, olive oil, textiles perfumes and medicinal substances. This area was partially brought to light during the last three excavation seasons. The different rooms in which industrial activities were carried on were interconnected, and their arrangement may have been designed to enable reuse of the stone tools and the waste materials, according to a seasonal system of labour use that is well documented in the Palestinian culture of the 9th to 7th centuries BCE. The importance of the site lies not only in the rarity of its identity as an industrial complex, but also in the integrity of the prehistoric levels, which were buried all of a sudden as the earthquake tumbled the walls. This circumstance is making it possible to reconstruct, through archaeometric investigations, the development of metallurgical, agricultural, medicinal and textile production methods that go back to the beginning of the second millennium BCE. The site offers a unique research opportunity; to date no comparable tangible finds have been discovered in the Mediterranean area, only inscriptions related to administrative records preserved in the palatial systems of the Aegean and the Near East. In this working environment, two rooms was dedicated to the textile industry: dyeing, spinning and weaving.  The spindle whorls have been classified by shape (conical, biconical, spherical, truncated and cylindrical), type (fabric technology and surface treatment, height, diameter, weight, size and inclination of the central perforation, use-wear), style and, of course, chronology (from Philia phase to MC II). Concerning the weight, Pyrgos evidence offers a wide range of sizes, confirming the use of different technologies and types of spinning, in relation to the type of fibre and the final result desiderated. The fibers and woven materials, all of which were particularly deteriorated, were consolidated with a 5% vinyl acryl nitrile emulsion. We avoided physically handling such deteriorated material by employing techniques that have been used in the past for remote sensing of images obtained from optical microscopes. Some of the recovered loom weights had sealed sediments inside their perforations. We floated these sediments in small quantities of glycerinated water. The fibers that had been mineralized (probably through a diagenetic process where fine particles of silt and clay had penetrated inside the fibers) sank to the bottom. We initially examined 932 morphologies, of which 150 of cotton (Gossypium ssp.), that it turns out to be the most represented with fibers of Asclepias ssp. (62) and Hibiscus ssp. (45) among for the vegetables fibers, while wool with  297 fibers in the most frequent animal fiber.

A summary report on the variety and functionality of the textile tools found at Bronze Age Tiryns, NE Peloponnese, Greece, published in E. Andersson Strand and M.-L.  Nosch (eds.), Tools, Textiles and Contexts. Investigating textile production in the Aegean and  Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age. Ancient Textiles Ser. Vol. 21. Oxford: Oxbow, 267–278.