Weights without looms: interpreting textile tools in storage contexts

Abstract While loom weights are ubiquitous in archaeological assemblages across the Mediterranean, few have been recovered in the exact locations where weaving was performed in antiquity. Rather, close analysis of textile tool publications reveals that most loom weights were deposited through various processes of reuse, loss, breakage, construction and storage. In this article, I argue that this final category of storage accounts for a far more significant proportion of archaeological loom weights than is usually recognized. I then explore three interrelated implications of this insight. First, I demonstrate that groups of weights left in storage contexts often only represent a small portion of the full range of tools typically owned by an ancient Greek household. Second, I show how storage offers a window into the decisions people made about what to leave behind in moments of duress. Finally, I assert that implicit in the act of storage is an expectation of retrieval, which in turn sheds light on circulation patterns within households. Altogether, these insights establish how a renewed focus on the storage of loom weights affords a more nuanced picture of the lives of ancient weavers.