Spindle-whorls vary considerably in size and weight, being usually from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, but occasionally as much as from two to three inches. They are sometimes flat at the edge or cylindrical, but more frequently rounded. They differ much in the degree of finish, some appearing to have been turned in a lathe, while others are very rough and not truly circular.
Fig. 357.—Scampston. 12
Fig. 358.—Holyhead. 11
The specimen I have selected for engraving as Fig. 357 is one of the more highly finished class, and rather flatter than usual. It was found in draining, at Scampston, Yorkshire, and is formed of a hard slaty stone. It has been turned in a lathe on one face, and at the edge; the other face is irregular, and seems to have been polished by hand. What was evidently the upper face, is ornamented with two parallel incised circles, and there are two more round the edge. The hole seems to have been drilled, and is quite parallel. One of the cheese-like spindle-whorls, of red sandstone, and another, rounded at the rim, found in hut-circles in Holyhead and Anglesea,[1] are shown in Figs. 358 and 359. Another, of sandstone, was found in Thor's Cave,[2] Derbyshire, with various objects, some of them of iron. One of lead, 118 inches in diameter, convex on one face, was found in the same place. One found at Ty Mawr, Holyhead,[3] by the late Hon. W. O. Stanley, F.S.A., who kindly lent me this and the preceding blocks, is shown in Fig. 360. Numerous other specimens were discovered in the same place.
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| Fig. 359.—Holyhead. 11 | Fig. 360.—Holyhead. 11 |
