spindle whorl
{{Short description|Weighted object fitted to a spindle}}
File:Wirtel01.png (a) (above)]]
A spindle whorl is a weighted object fitted to a spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn.
History
A spindle whorl may be a disk or spherical object. It is typically positioned on the bottom of the spindle. The spinner spins the weighted spindle pulling off a mass of fibers which is twisted into yarn.
Historically, whorls have been made of materials like amber, antler, bone, ceramic, coral, glass, stone, metal (iron, lead, lead alloy), and wood (oak). Local sourced materials have been also used, such as chalk, limestone, mudstone, sandstone, slate, lydite and soapstone.
Natufian artifacts unearthed in Israel at Nahal Ein Gev II, an archeological site, are believed to be the oldest spindle whorls found to date. Archaeologists say the perforated pebbles found scattered at the village site are 12,000 years old.{{Cite journal |last1=Yashuv |first1=Talia |last2=Grosman |first2=Leore |date=2024-11-13 |title=12,000-year-old spindle whorls and the innovation of wheeled rotational technologies |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=19 |issue=11 |pages=e0312007 |doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007|doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11559986 |pmid=39536041}}{{Cite web |last=Lesté-Lasserre |first=Christa |date=2024-11-13 |title=12,000-year-old stones may be oldest example of wheel-like tools |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2456238-12000-year-old-stones-may-be-oldest-example-of-wheel-like-tools/ |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}} According to scans of the pebbles, the perforations were biconical in shape and drilled in two directions, creating an hourglass shape.[https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-11-13/ty-article/earliest-spindle-wheels-may-have-been-discovered-in-12-000-year-old-village-in-israel/00000193-24e6-d707-a9d3-7cff87090000 "Earliest Spindle Wheels May Have Been Discovered in 12,000-year-old Village in Israel"], Haaretz
Gallery
File:Spindle Whorl (Sulsultin), 19th century, 05.588.7382.jpg|Spindle whorl (Sulsultin), Chemainus, Coast Salish (Native American), 19th century, Brooklyn Museum
File:Przęślik 0211.jpg|Whorl (12th or 13th century) found in Poland
File:1017_-_Keramikos_Museum,_Athens_-_Spindle-whirls,_10th_century_BC_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto,_Nov_12.jpg|Ancient Greek spindle whorls, 10th century BC, Kerameikos Archaeological Museum, Athens
File:Muisca spindle whorl.jpg|Muisca spindle whorl (500–1500{{nbs}}AD), Archaeology Museum, Sogamoso, Colombia
File:Object from the exhibition We call them Vikings produced by The Swedish History Museum (13618236425).jpg|Whorl made of antler, Viking Age (793–1066{{nbs}}AD), Björkö, Sweden
File:Early Medieval lead spindle whorl with Norse runes (FindID 409249-325621).jpg|Saltfleetby spindle-whorl (10th–12th centuries), Lincolnshire, England