Spindle whorls, ethnoarchaeology, and the study of textile production in third millennium BCE northern Mesopotamia: A methodological approach

A study of textile production in third millennium northern Mesopotamia is important for understanding the development of the region, which underwent monumental changes in settlement and organization during this period. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a methodological basis for interpreting spindle whorl and other archaeological evidence for textile production from the third millennium BCE northern Mesopotamia. The validity of the proposed methodology, which integrates archaeological, textual, and ethnoarchaeological evidence, is argued through the presentation of two case studies, intended to demonstrate the potential of the methodology for addressing broader issues in the archaeology of the region when applied on a more comprehensive scale.;The impetus for the settlement and the subsequent rise of urban centers is a topic that has been central to archaeological research in northern Mesopotamia. Increasingly, researchers have focused on pastoralism as vital component in the economic, political, and social development of the region. Given the relationship between pastoralism and textile production, a better understanding of the details and organization of textile production could contribute these debates.;For the explanatory potential of textile-production studies to be realized, sources of data for this production must be sought. Previous studies have focused largely on ancient texts, archaeobotanical, and archaeofaunal materials. Another important source of data on textile production is spindle whorls. Studies in New World and other contexts have demonstrated the potential for analyses of spindle whorls to provide a wealth of information on spinning and other steps in the textile production process, as well as the organization of the process as a whole. These studies rely on data systemization, comparability, and integration of spindle whorl and other datasets. In this thesis, the author addresses these issues in the northern Mesopotamian context through the implementation of a methodology that includes presentation of spindle typologies and models for the organization of textile production based on ethnoarchaeological research.