WHOLE CLOTH 169
choice, as it was less subject to breakage. Spinning linen thread took longer
than spinning wool, since the stalks of the flax plant required both retting and
pounding in order to extract the softer and more desirable inner fibers and
because linen fibers are shorter than wool. Modern estimates, using a medieval
technique of spinning linen, suggest a production rate of 36 meters per hour,
if not less, for linen thread (Carr 2000 : 165).
Locating a terracotta weight in the room of an ancient house is one thing;identifying the use of that room is another matter. Current thinking empha-
sizes the flexible use of space in the Greek house and both material evidence
and ancient testimonia on the loom room (the histeion) support this conclu-
sion (Nevett 1999 : 37). The histeion was probably not a dedicated room; it was
simply the place where the loom was erected. The loom at Orraon was set up
indoors, but the find spots of weights in houses indicate that the looms might
have been erected near the domestic courtyard in good weather, when the
weavers might enjoy fresh air, and where they might also have the advantage
of better light. The material evidence from Greek houses proves that looms
could be set up almost anywhere in the house, with an obvious preference
for well-lit spaces. Penelope was at her loom upstairs in Odysseus’ palace (Od.
1.361; 15.517) and Andromache was weaving deep in the muchos or inner cham-
bers of Priam’s palace (Il. 22.440). The location of the histeion in Menander’s
Samia (19) is within the house, just before the storeroom door and accessible
from the story above.
Once the loom was erected and the weaving begun, the loom was proba-bly not moved and any equipment necessary to the task of weaving would be
7.1 Agora Epinetron (P 9445, P 18605)
(Courtesy of Agora excavations, ASCSA).