An extensive compilation of over one hundred meticulously perforated pebbles, unearthed from the 12,000-year-old Natufian settlement of Nahal Ein-Gev II in Israel, has been subjected to thorough examination by archaeologists. Their findings suggest that these artifacts may have functioned as spindle whorls, instrumental in the process of spinning fibers.
3D analysis of the perforated pebbles and the perforations. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.
Circular apparatuses featuring a central aperture, when affixed to a rod to create a wheel-and-axle configuration, represent a pivotal innovation that spurred technological advancement, and they are conventionally linked to the Bronze Age wheeled vehicles.
Spindle whorls, characterized as roughly shaped, weighted components attached to a spindle rod, constitute a similar wheel-and-axle-like assembly designed to enhance the spindle’s rotational velocity and duration. This augmentation facilitates the efficient capture of fibrous materials, such as wool or flax, for conversion into yarn.
“Embodiments of circularity with a central void connected to a shaft represent one of humanity’s most impactful inventions,” stated Talia Yashuv and Leore Grosman, archaeologists affiliated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“By imparting motion to components of mechanical systems, the advent of wheels catalyzed the creation of innovations that profoundly transformed human mobility, energy utilization, engineering practices, and the industrial sector.”
“From terrestrial conveyances, automobiles, ceramic-forming turntables, and power-generating mills, to olive and grape presses, turning mechanisms, textile spinning machinery, and a myriad of other applications, each invention has left an indelible mark on the trajectory and evolution of technology.”
“At the fundamental level, the significance of the ‘wheel and axle’ principle resides in a comparatively elementary rotational mechanism capable of converting rectilinear into circular motion and vice versa.”
Rotational technologies: the evolution from ‘wheel-less’ to ‘wheel-based’ rotational technologies. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.
Within the scope of their investigative work, the archaeologists meticulously analyzed a collection comprising upwards of one hundred perforated stones, predominantly composed of limestone. These artifacts were exhumed from the Nahal-Ein Gev II archaeological site situated in northern Israel.
These ancient objects are estimated to date back approximately 12,000 years, a period coinciding with a crucial phase of transition toward an agrarian existence and the dawn of the Neolithic era, predating by a significant margin the wheeled contraptions of the Bronze Age.
The research team posits that these stones were likely repurposed as spindle whorls. This inference is further substantiated by the successful fabrication of yarn from flax using meticulously crafted replicas of these very stones.
This deposition of spindle whorls would represent an exceptionally early instance of humankind harnessing rotational principles through the utilization of a wheel-like implement.
It is plausible that these artifacts laid the groundwork for subsequent innovations in rotational technologies, such as the potter’s wheel and the wheel employed for transportation, both of which proved indispensable to the flourishing of early human societies.
“These perforated stones from the Natufian period can be accurately described as the primordial wheels, both in form and function—a circular object with a central orifice attached to a rotating axle, utilized long before the advent of wheels for the purpose of conveyance,” Professor Grosman elaborated.
A comprehensive dissertation detailing these findings was formally disseminated online on November 13, 2024, within the pages of the esteemed journal PLoS ONE.
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T. Yashuv & L. Grosman. 2024. 12,000-year-old spindle whorls and the innovation of wheeled rotational technologies. PLoS ONE 19 (11): e0312007; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007
