SPINDLE WHORL

An Iron Age clay spindle whorl dating to the period 800 BC- AD 43. The spindle whorl is of unusual design and is reel shaped with two sub-circular discs at either end which gradually narrow to a 'waist' in the centre. There is a vertical hole pierced through the centre of both discs. The spindle whorl is made of a reddish brown clay with about two-thirds of the surface of both ends and a joining section across the 'waist' coloured black. There are numerous small to medium flint inclusions and a number of large flint inclusions. The spindle whorl is crudely made, although the surface is smooth. There are diagonal grooves in both the end discs which were presumably where the material being spun was caught to allow the spun fabric to be wrapped around the spindle. The spindle whorl weighs 51.1g and measures 34.96mm in height. The discs at each end are 38.24mm in diameter and 37.23mm in diameter and the waist is approximately 31.81mm in diameter. The hole through the centre measures 7.41mm in diameter.

For a similar spindle whorl, please see Danebury Vol.2, no.7.35. Cynthia Poole remarks that "There is no proper decoration on any of the spindle whorls. The marking on 7.35, an irregular indentation round the centre of the spindle whorl, may be regarded as an attempt at decoration".