The development of the spinning wheel in ancient China

As textile demand increased in ancient China, the spinning wheel became more widely used in the Neolithic era andwas responsible for the main spinning tasks over the last few thousand years. This work explores the changes over timein the shape, diameter, and thickness of the spinning wheel in the Cross-lake Bridge, Hemudu, Yangshao, Qujialing, andShijiahe cultures. The disc-like shape, mound-like shape, bead shape, and truncated cone shape are deemed to havebeen the best spinning wheel forms in the later stages – especially the disc-like spinning wheel. The spinning wheel witha diameter of 2–9 cm and a thickness of 0.1 to 9.0 cm was used throughout prehistoric times. In the late Neolithic period,a disc-like spinning wheel with a diameter of 3–4 cm and a thickness of less than a cm was the most frequently useddesign. This study shows that the change in the shape, diameter, and thickness of the spinning wheel is the inevitableresult of the change in the tool’s design points, thereby revealing improvements in spinning efficiency