Ave!

Spindle Whorl, Romano/Celtic, 2nd Cent BC - 3rd Cent AD

Fired clay; 60mm x 38mm / 121.8gm!

Con/ About what you would expect; ovoid in shape and of large size for the type. The precise dating of such objects is difficult to discern other than the found location. This particular whorl was discovered in a farmer's field in Croatia where only Roman artifacts were existent.

Seller's Note/ So, what is a spindle whorl anyway? It was one of three tools used for spinning wool: Distaff, the Spindle Shaft and the Spindle Whorl.

Part One - To put it simply, a distaff is a stick used to hold unspun fiber when spinning. It was most used for flax or wool.

Part Two - The spindle was used for controlling the twist of the yarn and consists of the spindle shaft, which was made by a piece of wood or bone that was attached to the spindle whorl. The spindle whorl is important because it sustains the axis of the shaft while spinning. (See the 2nd photo.)

Part Three - The spindle whorl was a weighted object fitted to the bottom spindle to help maintain the spindle's speed of rotation while spinning yarn. As seen in our photos, they were produced from locally sourced materials such as clay.

The 3rd photo shows spinning with a whorl (c) on a spindle (b) and distaff (a). See the final photo for use in Medieval times.