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The sheep could be milked (and still is, in many parts of the world). When it shed its fleece this could be spun and woven into cloth. Man soon realized that to kill the sheep for its meat alone was a waste of food and material. And once he became a shepherd with the help of his friend the dog- probably the only animal to be domesticated before the sheep- he soon devised a method of producing clothing from the fleece. |
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Even before 10,000 BC wool cloth was being spun and woven by the tribes of northern Europe. To spin it they took the wool in one hand and drew it out, twisting it into a thread with the fingers of the other hand. The result was a thick uneven yarn. Later, a crude spindle was developed by fitting a stone or clay ring to the end of a short wooden stick. The ring acted as a flywheel and enabled the drawn-out yarn to be wound on to the spindle. This method of spinning was used for thousands of years and is still used by peasant communities in various parts of the world. |
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Weaving is the criss-crossing of threads of wool to make cloth. The first loom consisted of a beam from which lengths of yarn (warps) were hung and weighted at the lower end by stones. The `weft' yarn was threaded to and fro across the suspended `warp' yarns in an over-and-under action, like darning a sock. As with spinning, this system was used for thousands of years.
