Rediscovering Iron Age techniques: Making of loom weights at tell Deir ‘Alla

AMMAN — Scholars attempted to reconstruct technology of loom weight bead making and they studied the manufacturing technique from the Iron Age. These beads were made of clay and the mudstone particles and were usually reddish/brownish in colour. 

There were three types of fabrics: First was characterised by a high percentage of non-plastics, such as quartz sand, mudstone and a high amount of fibre; second is   characterised by mudstone and lime; and third type is characterised by small elements of lime and some mudstone.

 "The Damiyah / Lisan formation is easily accessible, due to the presence on one of the natural outcrops of Tell Deir ‘Alla . A thick layer of this clay is still accessible about 1,5 km east of Tell Deir ‘Alla along the river Zarqa." 

"The 588 studied loom weights of Tell Deir ‘Alla show the typical Damiyah /Lisan clay," Jeannette Boertien from The University of Groningen underlined.

“The loom weights often include organic material and sand together with small and large stones. The clay was probably not specially cleaned or selected before it was used for the manufacture of the loom weights,” Boertien continued.

Most of the loom weights are made of unselected clay from the Damiyah/Lisan formation, while a smaller group is made of selected (levigated) yellow clay, Boertien added. 

The clay used for the experiment is a local banded Damiyah/Lisan clay found in the close vicinity of Tell Deir ‘Alla. The clay was not specially selected. Stone, sand and organic materials were left in the clay.

Due to the presence of un-dissolved clay particles in the clay, crushing was needed to make a workable mixture.

"The ancient loom weights show signs of being made of a dry clay mixture. Therefore, in the experiment the clay was kept rather dry. For some models, however more water had to be added during the forming process," Boertien said, noting that a small number of smooth structured loom weights were made of nicely selected and thoroughly kneaded clay. 

“Each piece of clay weighed about 350 grammes and this was the average weight of the Iron Age loom weights,” Boertien explained, adding that different forms of beads were produced.

The loom weights were made in conical, beehive, donut, cylindric, spheric and mixed forms.

"The hole in the loom weight can be made in two ways. While making the object a coil of clay is wrapped around a stick or a finger, or the hole is made afterwards by perforating the weight with a stick." 

"We can distinguish between a horizontal perforation above the middle of the weight, and a vertical perforation in the middle of the weight seen in most donut-, spherical-, cylindrical-, and wheel-shaped weights," Boertien underlined, adding that the horizontal perforation results in the pendant form, as seen in the conical and beehive shaped weights. 

“The use of a stick from one side often gives characteristic traces. The size of the perforation depends on the way the hole is made. Before the stick is taken out of the weight it can be turned around. This often results in a hole with a conical form at one side." 

"The perforation from two sides leaves typical traces inside the loom weight,” Boertien elaborated, adding that perforation wider than 2.5 cm in diameter is always made from two sides in all type of loom weights made with a stick or formed around the finger

"From technological point of view, we may conclude that the unfired Iron Age loom weights of Tell Deir ‘Alla were made of local banded Damiyah/Lisan clay. It is difficult to say whether tempering material was added to the natural clay." 

"As appeared from the simulation experiment, the various shapes of the loom weights can be explained by the forming techniques that where applied," Boertien concluded.