There were looms in Ancient Greece. At the archaeological site, Akrotiri, we visited in the Island of Santorini we read there were hundreds of loom weights were found . At a museum we saw some weights–thrilling to see them. The picture shows a loom with the weights. This is a well known image. Exiting to see such elaborate costumes–all made of cloth from those primitive looms.
That is absolutely amazing!! Do they have an idea what year? It’s very ingenous and practical for small spaces.
Name
Discoid loomweight (archaeological term); sometimes simply “stone loom weight” or “perforated disc weight.” In Minoan contexts, these are distinctive for their rounded, heavy form compared to flatter clay versions from other periods/regions.
Purpose
It was used on a warp-weighted loom, a vertical loom common in the Bronze Age Aegean. Multiple loomweights (often dozens in rows) were tied to bundles of vertical warp threads, hanging down to provide even tension and keep the threads taut while the weaver worked horizontally across them. This allowed production of wool or linen textiles for clothing, sails, trade goods, and household use. Textile production was a key domestic and economic activity in Minoan society, evidenced by loomweights found in houses and workshops across Crete, including Mochlos.
Age
Bronze Age, specifically Minoan period (approximately 3000–1450 BCE). Discoid stone types like yours originated in Early Minoan Crete and were widespread through the Middle and Late Minoan periods. Given the findspot on Mochlos—a major Minoan harbor settlement occupied from Early Minoan onward—it’s likely from the Prepalatial to Neopalatial era (ca. 2500–1450 BCE).
Thank you for sending this. To think ship sails were woven this way!! Amazing.
Peggy
The prefix for we use to refer biological tissue, histo-, comes from the ancient Greek word for woven tissue, ἱστός, which itself comes from the word for a loom, “the thing standing upright” from ἱστάναι, to stand something upright.