to be fi nished on a larger loom. In card weaving a number
of cards (of wood, bone, or ivory), a bit larger than standard
playing cards, had a hole drilled in each corner. Th e warp
threads each passed through one hole. Th e warps were moved
by fl ipping the cards from side to side and running the weft
between them. Th is technique might have been used earlier,
but the fi rst unequivocal use was in the Iron Age. Iron Age
skills were continued into the Classical Period, when writing
and the increased use of fi gural depictions on ceramics pro-
vide evidence beyond archaeological deposits.GREECE
BY SPYROS SIROPOULOS
Evidence confi rms that textiles were used as far back as the
Neolithic Period, although no fi ndings of actual textiles have
been preserved. Bone pins (as well as copper pins from the
late Neolithic period) testify to the extended use of textiles
in the area of Greece. Th e processing of wool and linen and
the manufacture of tapestries and rugs appear to have been a
major part of the Minoan economy. During the acme of the
Minoan society (2200–1800 b.c.e.)—also known as the pal-
ace society because the palace was the central economic and
political unit—many women off ered their weaving services
to the palace. Preserved on clay tablets from Pylos is infor-
mation about 15 specialties of weavers. Th is specialization is
equivalent to industry by modern standards. One tablet re-
cords 10,572 animals (goats and sheep), while others describe
palace weavers also working with vegetable fi bers, such as
linen. Linen reached the palace by annual contributions twice
a year: at the end of winter and at the beginning of spring. A
series of clay tablets from Cnossus relates that 10 tons of wool
were distributed to 30 workshops, where 600 to 900 female
weavers labored. Other tablets from Cnossus mention the
processing of 45 tons of wool, which would have required an
estimated 2,700 to 4,000 workers.Raw materials were not diffi cult to obtain. Out of the
3,000 tablets found at Cnossus, almost 1,000 are about goats
and sheep, the number of which is estimated at 100,000. Th e
average annual production of wool from these herds, which
probably belonged to the palace, is an estimated 50 tons. A
bolt of textile weighed roughly 22 pounds, so 50 tons should
produce about 5,000 bolts. Th e L-series tablets, referring to
the previous year’s wool process, number about 5,000 bolts,
the weight of which varies between 11 and 132 kilos, whereas
their total weight reaches up to 45 tons. We are also certain
that the textiles were dyed both at Pylos and Cnossus, though
no traces of dying essences have been recognized by archae-
ologists today.
Herodotus (fi ft h century b.c.e.) reported in his Histories
that in India a wild plant produced “fl eece,” obviously refer-
ring to cotton. It was Alexander the Great who introduced the
cotton plant to Greece and made it part of the Greek economy.
Th e two kinds of fi bers—animal and vegetable—required dif-
ferent processing techniques. In the case of cotton and linen,
the process went through the stages of opening the fruit, ex-
tracting the fi bers, carding, combing, dyeing, and twisting
them for the spinning frame. Women did most of the weav-
ing at home, although specialized factories existed for pro-
cessing wool. First the wool was washed with hot water. Th en
the yarns were combed and stretched. Workers stretched the
wool over either their bare calves or a specialized tool called
an onos or epinetron. Th e cylindrical clay tool covered the
worker’s knee and lower thigh.
Before the invention of the spinning wheel (around 500
b.c.e. in India), spinning was done by hand. Wool was bound
loosely around a stick called a distaff. Many Grecian vase
paintings depict women holding a distaff in one hand and us-
ing the other hand to draw the material onto a spindle—an-
other stick with a weight at the bottom. Made to spin quickly,Bone needles from the cave of Courbet, Penne-Tarn, France, dating to
about 10,500 b.c.e. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)Utensil used for unwinding balls of wool, called Ariadne’s Clew
Box (Alison Frantz Photographic Collection, American School of Classical
Studies at Athens)textiles and needlework: Greece 10810895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1081 1081 10/10/07 2:31:00 PM