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Description: | A circular cast lead-alloy artefact, probably a spindle whorl. The whorl has a very flat biconical section, with each cone truncated by the central perforation for attachment. The whorl is 31.3mm in diameter at its centre, 11.2mm thick, and the circular perforation for attaching to the spindle is 10.1mm in diameter on either face, tapering to 5.2mm in its centre. The upper face of the whorl is decorated with six irregular diagonal ribs. Two pairs of these ribs form four fields on the face. The two larger fields are themselves divided in two by two further ribs which both are at the same angle to the perforation. In the fields between the ribs are six, centrally located pellets. The lower face appears to be similarly decorated, although plough damage has abraded this surface a lot more such that only four of the pellets are instantly discernable. The whorl weighes 45.6g. It has been pointed out that the weight of a spindle whorl is demonstrative of the thickness of yarn produced, with lighter spindle whorls (3 - 5 grams) being used for spinning cotton and the heavier ones (30 - 35 grams) for spinning wool (Margeson 1993, 184). It therefore seems likely that this heavy example was used for spinning wool. The spindle whorl is of an off-white colour. Decorated spindle whorls are difficult to date and those decorated with raised dots and lines have been found in both Roman and medieval contexts (Geake 2001, 66). This spindle whorl could therefore date to any time between the Roman and medieval periods. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Webley, Robert - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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