Drum Wheel
– Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Uzbekistan
Afghanistan
I found pictures of Afghani women spinning on drum wheels, I’m just not sure about anything else.
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An Afghani woman spinning what appears to be cotton on a floor hand cranked wheel[1]
Armenia
Armenia has used drum wheels recently, not sure when they started or what was used before.
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An Armenian woman spinning on a weird drum wheel.[2]I love the way this wheel looks. I wonder how heavy it is?
Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan, modernly, they use drum wheels. Once again, not sure how long they’ve been using them.
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An Azerbaijani woman spinning on a wheel.[3]
Cyprus
My research on Cyprus came up mostly with spindles, but I found an engraving of a woman spinning on a tilted drum wheel.
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A woodblock engraving of a Cyprus woman spinning. It’s interesting that she has the wheel tilted. I like it.[4]
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Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan, it was the farming/agriculturally based sector of the population that would have used the wheel, and they used the drum wheel. The nomadic peoples would have used spindles.
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It looks like the distance between drum and spindle is really hecking small on this one! Anyway, this is a Uzbekistani woman spinning cotton.[5]
References
[1] R.B. Holmes, Pathan Woman Spinning, North-West Frontier , January 7, 2022, photograph, Facebook , January 7, 2022.
[2] An Armenian Woman Spinning Thread, April 4, 2023, photograph, Instagram, April 4, 2023, https://www.instagram.com/p/CqnVshAgzj8/.
[3] Cosima Stewart, “The History of Weaving in the Caucasus,” Cabana Magazine, December 21, 2024, https://cabanamagazine.com/blogs/atlas-of-craftsmanship/the-history-of-weaving-in-the-caucasus.
[4] Tristam Ellis, Spinning Wheel in Cyprus, July 15, 2011, photograph, Getty Images, July 15, 2011, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/spinning-wheel-in-cyprus-royalty-free-illustration/184314918?adppopup=true.
[5] David Trilling, “Before Uzbekistan’s Cotton Industry Exploded, a Russian General Made These Pictures,” Eurasianet, April 26, 2019, https://eurasianet.org/before-uzbekistans-cotton-industry-exploded-a-russian-general-made-these-pictures.