Work

12,000-year-old spindle whorls and the innovation of wheeled rotational technologies

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: 'The wheel and axle' revolutionized human technological history by transforming linear to rotary motion and causing parts of devices to move. While its ancient origins are commonly associated with the appearance of carts during the Bronze Age, we focus on much earlier wheel-shaped find-an exceptional assemblage of over a hundred perforated pebbles from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Ein-Gev II, Israel. We analyze the assemblage using 3D methodologies, incorporating novel study applications to both the pebbles and their perforations and explore the functional implications. We conclude that these items could have served as spindle whorls to spin fibres. In a cumulative evolutionary trend, they manifest early phases of the development of rotational technologies by laying the mechanical principle of the wheel and axle. All in all, it reflects on the technological innovations that played an important part in the Neolithization processes of the Southern Levant.

Source: PLoS ONE

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007

Authors: Talia Yashuv, Leore Grosman

Institution: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Language: English

Topic: Archaeological and Geological Studies

Subfield: Archeology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,290