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Recreation of an area of activities related to textile work as documented at Cabezo Redondo. Credit: based on a drawing by J. A. López Padilla
Analysis and reconstruction of a warp-weighted loom from the second millennium BC site of Cabezo Redondo, Spain, provides an unprecedented glimpse into the development of textile technology in the Bronze Age western Mediterranean.
Used widely throughout prehistoric Europe and the Mediterranean to produce textiles, warp-weighted looms are weaving devices where the threads hang freely, held taut by clay or stone loom weights attached to the bottoms of the threads.
Made from wood and organic fibers, the looms themselves rarely survive archaeologically, meaning archaeologists are typically reliant on analysis of the weights to understand prehistoric textile production methods.
"The existence of textile production in Bronze Age south-eastern Iberia was well established, particularly through the study of loom weights and spindle whorls," states lead author of the research, Dr. Ricardo E. Basso Rial from the University of Granada. "However, the wooden components of looms themselves are rarely preserved, which has severely limited our ability to reconstruct loom morphology, spatial organization, and weaving practices in detail."
Successive stages in the excavation of the loom weights concentration. Credit: Antiquity (2026). https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10312
Now, researchers have discovered charred timbers and plant fiber ropes in association with clay loom weights at the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo in southern Spain, leading them to conclude that they are the remains of a warp-weighted loom.
One of the best-preserved examples of a Bronze Age warp-weighted loom in the western Mediterranean, it provides a rare opportunity to deepen our understanding of textile production in Bronze Age Iberia.
The researchers analyzed the preserved wooden remains and clay weights, using this information to partially reconstruct the loom. Their results are published in the journal Antiquity.
The wooden remains are from the locally occurring Aleppo pine. The weights, however, are more unique. Much lighter than other examples from across Mediterranean Iberia, they are possibly related to the manufacture of finer or more varied fabrics.
"The characteristics of the loom weights suggest that this loom was capable not only of producing open tabby fabrics, but also potentially denser and more technically complex textiles, probably including early twill weaves," says Dr. Basso Rial. "This represents a notable advance in our understanding of Bronze Age textile technology in Iberia."
Different views of the loom timbers during excavation. Credit: Antiquity (2026). https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10312
Tabby weaves, often made from plant fibers such as flax, are the most common from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. In contrast, twill weaves did not become widespread until the beginning of the 1st millennium BC.
Importantly, twill weaves were typically made from wool, suggesting that Cabezo Redondo may have been an important site in the "textile revolution": the technical diversification of textiles associated with the adoption of wool.
"This discovery allows us to see not just the partial tools that are usually preserved, but the loom itself—frozen at the moment it was in use nearly 3,500 years ago—offering a rare glimpse into the everyday craft of Bronze Age weaving," concludes Dr. Basso Rial.
Publication details Ricardo E. Basso Rial et al, Evidence of a warp-weighted loom in the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo (south-east Spain), Antiquity (2026). doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10312 Journal information: Antiquity
Provided by Antiquity
— Source: Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2026-03-archaeologists-untangle-bronze-age-textiles.html)
