Digital Exhibition: Ancient Greek loom weights in the TRC collection

Ancient Greek loom weights in the TRC collection

In 2014, a small collection of eleven ancient Greek loom weights was donated to the Textile Research Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands. The collection also included other textile tools, such as a bobbin (TRC 2014.0797), a bobbin fragment (TRC 2014.0798), and two spindle whorls (TRC 2014.0802 and TRC 2014.0803). All the tools are made of baked clay; the loom weights are mostly pyramidical or conical in shape with one perforation at the top. The artefacts come from different sites in Greece and range in date from the Archaic to the Classical, and perhaps Roman periods. This online exhibition will put these artefacts into context by exploring questions such as: what is a loom weight? How were they used? What can they tell us about ancient Greek textiles?

The text is by Shelley Anderson, volunteer at the TRC. A separate bibliography of the publications referred to in the text is provided in Chapter 11. All fifteen objects discussed in this online exhibition are grouped together in Chapter 12. Individual objects from this group, plus other illustrative material, are placed wherever relevant throughout the other chapters. 

For this online exhibition:

• Author: Shelley Anderson.
• Web-design: Joost Koopman
• Exhibition design: Willem Vogelsang
• Publisher: TRC Leiden.
• Year of publication: 2018.

• 1. Introduction
• 2. What is a loom weight?
• 3. When is a loom weight not a loom weight?
• 4. What is a warp weighted loom?
• 5. How were the loom weights used?
• 6. Ancient Greek textiles
• 7. What can loom weights teach us?
• 8. Women's work
• 9. Religion
• 10. Conclusion
• 11. Bibliography
• 12. Digital catalogue