A spindle whorl is a weight in the form of a disk or a low cylinder with a hole in the middle. It was used to weight spindles and make them rotate and spin the yarn. The spindle whorl from the Glazov Museum of Local Lore was found during excavations in 1957–1958 at the medieval settlement of Vesyakar. This is one of two hundred monuments of the Polomskaya and Chepetskaya cultures located in the basin of the Cheptsa River, where the ancestors of the northern Udmurts lived during the early Middle Ages.
The Vesyakar settlement was founded in the 9th century and existed for four centuries. During excavations, the remains of a ritual complex were found there. They included a hearth, a pit and ash. A lot of burnt and calcined bones have been preserved in the hearth. Among them were tools and the spindle whorl, presented in the exhibition.
Spinning was a mandatory craft for all girls and women. Fabrics in ancient times were made from hemp, flax, nettle and wool. Ancient craftswomen created fabrics of loose texture using twill or plain weave techniques. The textile was dyed with local colorants: nettle, goatweed, spurge laurel, oak bark and alder. The cultural layer of the Idnakar settlement, one of the largest archaeological sites of the Cheptsa River basin, contains tools for harvesting flax and weaving, in particular, more than 300 spindle whorls.
In the medieval Kama region, stone disc-shaped spindle whorls were used more often. The weights were cylindrical, spherical and barrel-shaped. For spinning coarse and fine yarn, spindle whorls with different masses were needed, so they were made of different materials — limestone, clay, and bone. Each woman could have several spindle weights of different sizes and masses and used them depending on the type of the yarn. To create a light thread, heavy spindle whorls were required, for coarse and thick threads — lighter ones. Women spent all their evenings spinning, from autumn to spring, working by a rushlight. The spindle was a sacred object, it was put in the crib of a newborn girl, given as a wedding gift and was never lent to anyone.
The Vesyakar settlement was founded in the 9th century and existed for four centuries. During excavations, the remains of a ritual complex were found there. They included a hearth, a pit and ash. A lot of burnt and calcined bones have been preserved in the hearth. Among them were tools and the spindle whorl, presented in the exhibition.
Spinning was a mandatory craft for all girls and women. Fabrics in ancient times were made from hemp, flax, nettle and wool. Ancient craftswomen created fabrics of loose texture using twill or plain weave techniques. The textile was dyed with local colorants: nettle, goatweed, spurge laurel, oak bark and alder. The cultural layer of the Idnakar settlement, one of the largest archaeological sites of the Cheptsa River basin, contains tools for harvesting flax and weaving, in particular, more than 300 spindle whorls.
In the medieval Kama region, stone disc-shaped spindle whorls were used more often. The weights were cylindrical, spherical and barrel-shaped. For spinning coarse and fine yarn, spindle whorls with different masses were needed, so they were made of different materials — limestone, clay, and bone. Each woman could have several spindle weights of different sizes and masses and used them depending on the type of the yarn. To create a light thread, heavy spindle whorls were required, for coarse and thick threads — lighter ones. Women spent all their evenings spinning, from autumn to spring, working by a rushlight. The spindle was a sacred object, it was put in the crib of a newborn girl, given as a wedding gift and was never lent to anyone.
