An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c21.s16.2

v1.c21.s16.2

In the archaeological context the knowledge of thread is attested to by early wheel-made pottery wherein the pot-bases bear in many cases impressions of string suggesting its use in separating an unbaked pot from the clay lump within the wheel. However actual textile specimens recovered from excavations are only a few and they too are available in tiny fragments or mere threads of only cotton, with only two notable exceptions from the Deccan. The basic tool used for taking out the thread from the raw substance and twisting and winding it was most probably the spindle whorl [6.25], of which numerous examples have been unearthed at many sites. The art of making mats or like material from reed or bamboo seems to have played a significant part in the introduction of the idea of textiles, especially the geometric elements in them. The variety of impressions on the Neolithic pottery [11.1.1] of BURZAHOM might thus have an indirect relation to the development of Indian textiles at some stage especially in regard to geometric designs. The earliest example so far reported is represented by cotton scraps adhering to a silver lid of a vase from the excavations at Mohenjo-daro (Marshall, 1931). According to Gulati and Turner, 1928, these cotton scraps are of a coarse variety weighing 2 oz (56·70 g) per sq yard (·84 sq m) made from 34s count and 60 ends and 20 picks per inch (2·5 cm). Two samples of strings from the site ware found contain 24-fold cotton cords in each case. The material is stated to have been obtained from a plant closely related to *Gossypium arboreum* [2.3.5] or one of its varieties unidentical with its wilder species.