| The spinning wheel,one of the main parts of a spinning wheel,has been widely discovered during previous archaeological excavations of Neolithic sites.Due to its portability,the spinning wheel was a widely used tool in ancient times,and its invention marks the beginning of true spinning techniques.Although small,it takes full advantage of such scientific principles as pulling by gravity and twisting with spinning.By combining pulling,twisting and winding into a single procedure,spinning wheels produce yarn in a relatively stable quantity and quality—sometimes even better than those produced by cord wheels and textile machines.The spinning wheel introduced the modern spindle and,as the forerunner of textile machines,it not only initiated the history of spinning but also established a strong foundation from which the textile industry developed.This paper aims to explore the trajectory of this ancient spinning tool from its emergence and development in the Neolithic period and to understand our ancestors' motivation to invent the spinning wheel,as well as its contribution to modern spinning techniques.Based on an extensive literature review as well as both practical and ethnological materials,each chapter will explore a range of aspects from the perspective of design science,physics,and spinning science.Chapter One,the introduction,explains the reasoning behind the paper and defines its range and content by discussing the background and significance of this research.Chapter Two illustrates the manufacturing processes,which emerged before the spinning wheel,of an ancient “textile”: it explains the tools of rope manufacture as well as the functions of ropes.The chapter also proposes five prerequisites for theemergence of the spinning wheel: the obvious disadvantages of the pole,the use of weights with holes,the promotion of fiber-splitting techniques,people's urgent need,and the innovation of composition tools.This chapter further reveals the progress in and results of turning rope into spun yarn.The emergence of the spinning wheel enabled people to move out of the “rope era” into that of thin textile fibers,achieving the more efficient and time saving production of natural materials that transformed thick and tough ropes into soft yarn of unlimited length.Following the timeline of the appearance of the spinning wheel and textiles from representative archaeological excavations,Chapter Three reveals the spinning wheels,textile,and trace textiles produced in the Middle and earlier and later Late Neolithic periods.The materials,shape,and key points of the design of the spinning wheel,as well as the diameters of the yarn produced,in the Neolithic period were determined through statistical calculations.The materials were identified as at least six types:stone,pottery,wood,clam,bone,and jade.Based on the association schemes of classification proposed by other scholars,the shapes of spinning wheels were divided into seven categories: cake,cone-like,spherical,ellipsoidal,H-shaped,convex,and roller.From such classification,the edge and surface structures were also concluded to be key elements in the design of the spinning wheel's shape.Statistical data shows that for spinning wheels,its diameter ranged from 2.0 cm to 16.0 cm,thickness from0.2 cm to 9.0 cm,pore diameters from 0.3 cm to 4.0 cm,while the mass ranged from5.0 g minimum to about 120.0 g maximum.The textiles and textile traces discovered by past archaeological excavations indicate that not until the Late Neolithic period did a larger number of textiles and textile imprints begin to emerge.From this time,it is noticeable that people could spin linen,wool,and silk fibers into yarns of about0.2–1.0 mm diameter.Contrasting different cultural regions,Chapter Four uses the context of time to conduct a detailed data analysis of: on the one hand,the relationship between the material,shape,diameter,thickness,and aperture,including its diameter,of the spinning wheel;and on the other hand,the overall thickness and aperture of spinning wheels made in the Middle,earlier and later Late Neolithic periods.The results reveal differences not only in the texture but also the size of the spinning wheel.In addition,there are obvious differences in the spinning wheel's development between the Yangtze and Yellow River basins during different cultural stages,which represent two different life curves.Moreover,to some extent,there are distinct spinning wheels at different cultural stages within the same basin.Chapter Five adopts the basic methods of design,physics,and spinning science to analyze the reasons for changes in spinning wheel materials,shapes,diameters,and thicknesses.At the same time,experiments verified the characteristics of spinning wheels with different diameters and sizes.According to the analysis and experimentation of spinning wheels: the disc-like shape is the most suitable for spinning;the diameter is the most relevant factor affecting the fineness of the yarn;the category of fiber is the most relevant to the twist of the yarn;while the mass,within a certain range,of a spinning wheel determines the type of raw materials used.Furthermore,it is claimed that certain regional characteristics with respect to the use of different-shaped spinning wheels are mainly determined by geographical environment and human habits.Thus,the same spinning wheel can be used to spin yarns of different sizes and from various materials according to people's needs.In fact,the evolution of the spinning wheel is the process of minimizing the human factor in yarn production: anyone could take full advantage of the functions of the spinning wheel to spin yarn of consistent mass.This also results from the search for spinning wheels that are more practicable.Chapter Six illustrates the fact that the disappearance of the spinning wheel was not complete;rather,a gradual evolution occurred over time,with the principle of spinning being inherited while the technology improved and the equipment was gradually perfected.In addition,the quality and efficient production of textiles have been greatly modified during these processes of inheritance and evolution.Based on the fact that the spinning wheel introduced the spindle,this chapter explains how traces of the spinning wheel has never disappeared in the evolution from complete spinning wheels to mule and ring spinning,as well as revealing the processes of that evolution.To a certain extent,the traveler of modern ring spinning can be considered a variant on the spinning wheel,as they share the same function and work on the same principle.Finally,this paper proposes that the preponderant design concepts of the spinning wheel are used for reference in both modern and future spinning technology.Basing on this,the development of modern spinning technology is prospected. |
PDF Full Text Request