This paper presents the results of a project of the University of Padua, coordinated by Maria Stella Busana, focused on the census of the archaeological artefacts related to the processing of wool in Roman times, in order to clarify diachronically the technological, organizational and social aspects.
The study has been completed, until now, recording data in a database linked to a GIS, in the provinces of Brescia, Verona, Vicenza and Padua, where have been classified more than 1000 records, belonging to major classes of tools used in different stages of the woollen industry (shears, bobbins, spindles, hooks, spindle whorls and loom weights, are the most numerous). The analysis pays particular attention to those aspects that could have a close relationship with the use of the artefacts, such as their weight and morphometric characteristics, their wear, and their decorations. Despite this systematic approach, there remains some doubt regarding the recognition and interpretation of some classes of materials: the shears can sometimes be confused with scissors used for other purposes, and it is equally difficult to recognize the spindles and bobbins, if found in a fragmentary state. Other problems concern loom weights that might have had other functions. In any case a complete analysis of the artefacts, along with their site contexts and geographical distribution, permits the fomulation of hypotheses about the economic vocations of different territories, the organization of economic activities, the comparison with earlier cultural traditions and the symbolic value of particular objects
