A »Kernos-Type« Vessel from the Baden Culture Site Zesławice Used for Textile Production?

Abstract

A »Kernos-Type« Vessel from the Baden Culture Site Zesławice Used for Textile Production?

Between 1953 and 1958, excavations were carried out at two sites (nos 21 and 22) in the village of Zesławice (now part of Krakow). Both sites were associated with the settlement of the Baden culture. In one of the sites, two intriguing vessels with »pockets« were found. They were shaped like pear-shaped amphorae with cylindrical rims and bases with a small diameter.
One of the vessels, due to the lack of analogies in the Baden culture, resembles a Kernos-type vessel in shape. This container refers to vessels with nozzles, which were used for twisting threads. The skeins of thread were placed in smaller compartments, and the ends were pulled through the nozzles of the vessel and then pulled out through the main opening. In this way, the threads were twisted using a spindle, probably suspended from the ceiling. The use of such clay vessels began in the Chalcolithic period and continued throughout prehistory in various forms and cultural contexts.