The project, led by Dr Federico Manuelli (CNR-ISPC, Italy) and coordinated by BIAA Honorary Research Fellow Dr Stuart Blaylock, aims to establish a joint archaeological laboratory to shed new light on a puzzling category of artefacts commonly known as ‘spools’.
What do small, cylindrical clay objects have to do with the great upheavals that transformed the ancient world? Quite a lot, as it turns out. A new interdisciplinary research initiative—Spool-LAB, launched in 2024 and led by Dr Federico Manuelli (CNR-ISPC)—shines a spotlight on a class of artefacts that have long gone under the radar: spools, clay cylinders typically associated with textile production. These modest-looking items, found in large numbers across the eastern Mediterranean, date to a time of extraordinary change at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE—a period marked by the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, the fall of the Hittite Empire, and the destruction of major city-states in the Levant.
Once considered mundane and largely ignored by archaeologists, spools are now the subject of renewed attention for their potential to reveal new insights into the social, economic, and cultural transformations of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Scholarly literature suggests that they were likely used as loom weights for warp-weighted looms, supporting their role in textile production. But could they have served other purposes as well? Due to their frequent association with Late Helladic IIIC pottery and other Mycenaean materials, spools have also become part of the broader discussion on ancient migration and identity, with some scholars proposing that spools serve as cultural markers of Aegean influence, offering material clues to population movements across the region.
Based on these premises, Spool-LAB sets out to ask broader and more fundamental questions:
- Why do these objects suddenly appear and spread so widely?
- What explains their remarkable abundance?
- Could their use extend beyond textile production?
While acknowledging the complexity of these questions, the project aims to deepen our understanding of how spools were made, how their forms evolved over time, and whether they had multiple functions. Its goal is also to develop a robust case study and interdisciplinary methodology for investigating this class of objects, as well as create a replicable research model that can be applied to similar artefacts and inspire future studies.
At the heart of the project is a collaboration with the BIAA, which has granted access to an extraordinary assemblage of spools from Tille Höyük, a key archaeological site in southeastern Türkiye. This collaboration also involved the digitisation of part of the extensive Tille Höyük archive physically housed at the BIAA, including archaeological documents (such as fieldnotes, inventory lists, and plans) and photographic slides.
Excavated between 1979 and 1990 by the late BIAA Director David French, Tille Höyük offers one of the most detailed sequences of occupation from the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE in the northern Levant, with over 500 spools uncovered at the site, primarily from Iron Age levels, often in caches and alongside other textile-related tools. The sheer quantity and well-documented contexts of these finds make Tille Höyük an exceptional case study for exploring the role and significance of spools in ancient societies.
The spools from Tille Höyük will be analysed through a meticulous archival study and the subsequent application of both non-invasive archaeometric methodologies and digital reconstruction and interpretation techniques. Through this new lens, Spool-LAB hopes to elevate these humble artefacts from overlooked curiosities to key witnesses of a transformative era in Mediterranean history.
Spool-LAB is funded by the CNR (Italy) with the “Joint Archaeological Laboratories 2024-2025.”