The Dawn of Spinning: 12,000-Year-Old Perforated Stones Hint at Textile Technology Roots
Ancient Stones as Tools of Rotation
A new discovery1 of 12,000-year-old perforated stones at the Nahal Ein Gev II site in northern Israel may represent some of the earliest spindle whorls — tools used to spin fibers into thread for textiles. These stones, excavated by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reveal early examples of rotational tools, predating the invention of …
