Spinning

Spindle whorls made of different material have often been found in female graves from Northern Europe. Therefore spinning is viewed as a typical female task. Girls have probably been taught how to spin very early in their life so that they could one day produce such thin and even threads as are documented through many textile finds from graves. Among the materials spindle whorls were made of are clay, bone/horn, (soap) stone and lead, occasionally amber and even glass. It is possible that wooden whorls were used as well - in fact, wooden spinning shafts with integrated spindle whorl have been found in York. But the evidence is very thin since wood is under-represented in the archaeological material.

Wool and spindle could be taken everywhere. Because of that, spinning was not only possible on the farm, but basically at every free moment. Through our own experience, we realized how much time has to be invested in order to spin just 100g of yarn. If one considers the required amount for a warm winter cloak, it becomes clear how important this part of textile production was. The value of a garment was significantly higher than what we are used to today. Because of that, people owned fewer garments and mended them more often. The "authentic" old everyday-tunic would hence be covered in patches.