The development of the spinning wheel in ancient China

Abstract

As textile demand increased in ancient China, the spinning wheel became more widely used in the Neolithic era and was responsible for the main spinning tasks over the last few thousand years. This work explores the changes over time in the shape, diameter, and thickness of the spinning wheel in the Cross-lake Bridge, Hemudu, Yangshao, Qujialing, and Shijiahe cultures. The disc-like shape, mound-like shape, bead shape, and truncated cone shape are deemed to have been the best spinning wheel forms in the later stages – especially the disc-like spinning wheel. The spinning wheel with a diameter of 2–9 cm and a thickness of 0.1 to 9.0 cm was used throughout prehistoric times. In the late Neolithic period, a disc-like spinning wheel with a diameter of 3–4 cm and a thickness of less than a cm was the most frequently used design. This study shows that the change in the shape, diameter, and thickness of the spinning wheel is the inevitable result of the change in the tool’s design points, thereby revealing improvements in spinning efficiency