Mária T. Biró: The Bone Objects of the Roman Collection. (Catalogi Musei Nationalis Hungarici. Seria Archeologica 2; Budapest, 1994)

VI. BONE OBJECTS OF EVERYDAY USE AND TOOLS MADE OF BONE - 4. Tools of women's housework: sewing needles, spinning and weaving equipments

those used even today in the country. It was necessary because spindles — after spinning the fibre — could be also used at weaving. Weaving (shuttle, loop stick and comb for weaving) Fig. S3. Weaving instrument With upright loom and even more with weaving frame spindle was used as a shuttle. Yarn was wound on the spindle. (Fig. 23.) The spindle used in spinning served for guiding the yarn between the warps as a shuttle. In looping it between the warps the spindle weight would have obstacled the working process. There were probably also made bone objects used only as shuttles. (Nos. 531-534.) Such objects used in weaving are in my opinion the bone sticks widening strongly at the middle with both ends pointed. (Nos. 542-547.) They were found at Szőny, although there are some of unknown site. The smallest is 7 cm long while the biggest is 21 cm long. The smaller ones were perhaps shuttles while the longer ones were loop sticks used with upright looms or frames serving for separating yarn layers. (Nos. 542-547.) In weaving there was a special device needed for beating down cross fibres. This task was substituted by horizontal looms by built-in reed. The semi-circular indented bone disc from Szőny may have been a weaving comb used with the more primitive weaving frame. (No. 541.) A tool for weaving at home was the so-called cord-making or string weaving device. (No. 551.) It was a small weaving frame used for making cords, flat ropes, strings. The yarns corresponding to the length of the ribbon or cord were passed through the holes one by one. Odd and even fibres were separated and through the opening created this way the cross fibre is passed through.