Archaeologists have investigated an exceptional assemblage of more than 100 perforated pebbles excavated from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Eingev II in Israel, and have discovered that these items may be used to make fibers. They concluded that it may have functioned as a whorl for the spinning spindle.
3D analysis of perforated pebbles and holes. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.
Donut-shaped objects connected to bars to form wheels and axles were an important invention that served as a starting point for technological development and are commonly associated with Bronze Age carts.
A spindle whorl is a round, weighted object attached to a spindle stick, forming a similar wheel-and-axle-like device, helping the spindle spin faster and longer, and allowing fibers such as wool or flax to spin You can collect and spin them efficiently. On the thread.
“A circular object with a hollow center connected to a rod is one of the most important inventions in history,” said archaeologists Talia Yashuv and Leore Grossman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“By moving parts of equipment, the wheel led to inventions that revolutionized human transportation, energy use, engineering, and the mechanical industry.”
“From wagons and automobiles to potter's wheels and power mills, oil and wine presses, lathes, spinning wheels, and many other applications, each invention has left its own mark on the history and evolution of technology.”
“At the heart of it all, the importance of 'wheels and axles' lies in the relatively simple rotational mechanisms that can convert linear motion to rotary motion and vice versa.”
Rotating technology: Evolution from “wheelless” to “wheel-based” rotating technology. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.
In the study, archaeologists examined a collection of more than 100 perforated, mostly limestone pebbles recovered from the Nahal Ein Geb II site in northern Israel.
These artifacts date back to around 12,000 years ago, long before the advent of Bronze Age handcarts, and during the important transition to agricultural life and the Neolithic period.
Researchers speculate that the stone was likely used as a spindle whorl. This hypothesis is supported by the success of spinning flax using stone replicas.
This collection of spindle whorls likely represents a very early example of human use of rotation in a wheel-shaped tool.
These may have paved the way for later spinning technologies, such as potter's wheels and carts, which were essential to the development of early human civilization.
“These Natufian perforated stones are actually the first wheels in form and function. A round object with a hole in the center connected to a rotating shaft, they were used for transportation purposes long before the advent of wheels. ,” Professor Grossman said.
a paper A description of the results was published in the online journal on November 13, 2024 PLoS ONE.
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T. Yashuv and L. Grossman. 2024. A 12,000 year old innovation in spindle volute and wheeled rotation technology. PLoS ONE 19 (11): e0312007;doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007
Source: www.sci.news
