Technical Innovation in Processing of Flax Yarn Production in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula: The Spinning Bowl

Abstract

In space, the Castreña culture was located in the north-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, whereas in time it stretched from the Late Bronze Age to the beginning of the Roman period. This study focuses specifically on the invention and use of the spinning bowl in the Castreña culture. Theoretical and conceptual tools will enable tackling this item with a rigid research methodology and help answer the question of why the invention of the spinning bowl and the innovations in processing of flax yarn production occurred, and how they were transmitted to other areas in the forms of innovation or technical loan. To explain its presence within the limits of this geography and chronology, the use of Linum usitatissimum L. is discussed. This specific raw material is closely related to the entire innovation process on the one hand, and on the other opens an avenue for research into its function within the technical chain of the creation of linen thread or yarn.