Clay Loom Weights in the Iron Age Period at Tell Tweini (Field A)

Studies a. IntroductIon Textile tools such as loom weights provide evidence for textile production in archaeological contexts where textile remains are not preserved. Textile tools, made of unbaked clay, terracotta, bone, ivory and stone are the remains of an intangible, but once flourishing, textile industry. The tool wear patterns, shapes and measurements (height, diameter, diameter of perforation and weight) allow to reconstruct the thickness of the spun yarns as well as the types of fabrics produced, 1 while their context provide information on domestic production, workshops and possible mass production. To weave, and thus create fabric, tension must be applied to one set of parallel threads, the warp, so that a set of perpendicular threads, the weft, can be interlaced. Looms are the frames used to provide tension to the warp and many different forms exist. 2 One large type of loom, the warp-weighted loom uses sets of weights to provide tension to the vertical set of threads (warp). These loom weights are usually the only surviving elements of wooden warp-weighted looms, and can be made of stone, terracotta or unbacked clay. As noted by many authors, weights are often problematic because they could have been used for many purposes and one has to demonstrate that the objects were used in textile production. 3 To do so, one uses contextual evidence: rows of weights demonstrate the presence of a loom destroyed by fire or decay, the association of weights with other textile tools (beaters, distaffs, spindles, spindle-whorls) and/or objects which could have been used for dying/washing fibres and textiles (pestles, grinders, vats, cooking pots, jars, etc.) tends to indicate textile production, while comparison with well-attested shapes of loom-weights can provide clues about the weights' function. Warp-weighted looms were probably dismantled when not in use and it is therefore rare to find rows of loom-weights in archaeological contexts. When not in use, the wooden parts of the loom