Researchers find 3,500-year-old loom that reveals textile revolution

7 hours ago

Researchers discovered a 3,500-year-old loom at the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo in Villena, Spain.
The loom's preservation was due to a fire that charred and sealed the site, preserving wooden components, clay weights, and esparto ropes.
The loom is one of the few known cases in Mediterranean Europe where both loom weights and wooden components have been preserved.
The loom was identified as a vertical warp-weighted loom, with 44 cylindrical weights and pine timbers.
The wooden components were made from Aleppo pine, indicating careful material selection.
The loom is part of the 'textile revolution' in the European Bronze Age, involving technological and social changes in textile production.
The context suggests textile production was a cooperative effort among household groups.
Bioanthropological evidence points to women playing a central role in textile activities.
Cabezo Redondo was a key regional hub with political and economic significance during the second millennium BCE.
Future research may include archaeometric analyses of fibres and isotopic studies of sheep to understand raw material origins and production specialisation.

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