The UV has played a part in the discovery of a 3,500-year-old loom that sheds light on key aspects of the Bronze Age textile revolution

The discovery, made by a team of researchers from several Spanish universities and recently published in the journal Antiquity, represents one of the few known cases in Mediterranean Europe where not only the loom weights but also associated wooden components and plant fibres have been preserved. The article is authored by researchers Gabriel García Atiénzar, Paula Martín de la Sierra Pareja, Virginia Barciela González and Mauro S. Hernández Pérez, from the University of Alicante, alongside Ricardo Basso Rial, from the University of Granada, and Yolanda Carrión Marco, from the University of Valencia.

According to Gabriel García Atiénzar, professor of Prehistory at the University of Alicante, the fire created a highly unusual archaeological context in which “the collapse of the roof was crucial”. “The sudden destruction sealed the area and immediately buried it, allowing its preservation”, he explains. Trapped beneath the fallen roof were the components of the loom, including charred wooden beams, clay weights and esparto ropes.

The loom was uncovered during the excavation of a passageway on the western slope of the settlement, where an elevated platform contained a dense cluster of clay weights. As explained by postdoctoral researcher of the University of Granada Ricardo Basso Rial, these findings enabled confident identification of the device, since “although the loom was found in a collapsed context and some parts were missing, the compact set of 44 cylindrical weights with a central hole – most weighing about 200 grams – is characteristic of a warp-weighted vertical loom”.

Alongside the weights, several pine beams arranged in parallel were found. The thicker pieces, with rectangular cross-sections, likely correspond to the vertical posts of the loom frame, while thinner cylindrical elements probably served as horizontal bars of the structure.

Researchers also identified braided esparto fibres associated with the structure, including remnants of small cords inside the holes of some of the weights, probably used to secure the warp threads. This combination of weights, wood and fibres has allowed the team to reconstruct the loom’s operation with unusual precision for prehistoric contexts.

Microscopic analysis of the recovered wooden fragments
Archaeobotanist at the UV Yolanda Carrión analysed the recovered wooden elements. “The organic elements were preserved thanks to the fire that charred the remains and to the fact that they underwent little subsequent alteration; paradoxically, the fire destroyed them, but it also preserved them,” she explains.

Microscopic analysis of the wood revealed that the loom was made from Aleppo pine, a species widely available in the region. According to Carrión, head of the Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History at the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Valencia, observations of the growth rings suggest that the beams came from long-lived trees producing large-diameter timber, indicating a careful selection of the material. “The arrangement of differently sized wooden elements interlocked and leaning against a wall, together with the presence of the weights, allowed us to formulate a solid hypothesis regarding the loom’s morphology”, adds the researcher.

The discovery forms part of a broader process known as the European Bronze Age “textile revolution”, characterised by technological and economic changes in textile production.

According to Ricardo Basso, “the textile revolution resulted from multiple converging factors, including the expansion of wool-focused livestock farming, technical innovations in looms and spinning tools, and social changes favouring more intensive and diversified textile production”.

At Cabezo Redondo, these changes are reflected in new forms of lighter spindle whorls and loom weights, some suitable for producing finer and more complex fabrics such as woollen twills. However, textiles themselves rarely survive archaeologically, so many of these inferences are based on the indirect study of the tools.

That is why the loom from Cabezo Redondo is particularly valuable, as it “allows us to move from interpreting isolated weights to documenting a loom in operation almost in photographic detail, with its wooden frame, the warps, the weights and the architectural context”, Basso emphasises.

The context in which the loom was found also sheds light on the social organisation of labour. The loom was located in an outdoor space shared by several households, suggesting cooperative production activities. “This indicates that different household groups may have collaborated on activities such as spinning, weaving or grinding grain”, notes Paula Martín de la Sierra, a postdoctoral researcher at the University Institute for Research in Archaeology and Historical Heritage (INAPH) of the University of Alicante and a member of the research project. “Other craft activities in the settlement, such as metalworking or ivory carving, appear to have been concentrated in specialised areas”, she adds.

Bioanthropological evidence also points to a central role for women in textile production. Several female burials at the site show characteristic tooth wear associated with spinning, likely caused by holding fibres or cutting threads with the incisors.

Cabezo Redondo archaeological site
Far from being an isolated village, Cabezo Redondo was an important regional centre. Its size, long occupation and monumental structures suggest that it served as a political and economic hub in south-eastern Iberia during the second millennium BC.

Although it shares similarities with the El Argar culture, researchers consider it part of a later phase known as post-Argaric. The famous gold hoard discovered at the site is thought to be contemporary with the loom.

For researchers, the discovery opens up new avenues of study. Future research may include archaeometric analyses of microscopic fibres or isotopic studies of sheep remains to reconstruct the origin of raw materials and the degree of specialisation in textile production.

Meanwhile, the loom from Cabezo Redondo is already emerging as one of the most comprehensive examples of textile technology in Bronze Age Europe. As Basso concludes, the site now stands as “an exceptional laboratory for studying the technical and social evolution of textiles during the second millennium before the Common Era”.

Cabezo Redondo is one of the most important Bronze Age sites in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula. Systematic excavations began in 1960 under the direction of local researcher José María Soler, who decided to intervene to prevent destruction of the hill by the gypsum quarries operating in the area. Since 1987, the site has been the subject of research campaigns led initially by Mauro S. Hernández and subsequently by a team including, among others, García Atiénzar and Virginia Barciela González of the University of Alicante’s INAPH.

The settlement was occupied roughly between 2100 and 1250 BC and covered about one hectare. Houses built on terraced slopes contained benches, hearths, silos and storage vessels. Botanical and faunal analyses indicate an intensive agro-pastoral economy. Furthermore, numerous finds – including gold and silver ornaments, elephant ivory, glass beads and marine shells – show that the community was part of extensive exchange networks linking south-eastern Iberia with other parts of the peninsula, the western Mediterranean and even central Europe.

Article reference: Basso Rial R. E., García Atiénzar G., Carrión Marco Y., Martín de la Sierra Pareja P., Barciela González V., Hernández Pérez M. S. “Evidence of a warp-weighted loom in the Bronze Age settlement of Cabezo Redondo (south-east Spain)”. Antiquity. Published online 2026: 1-18. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10312