Textile production at Kultepe- kanish during the old Assyrian trading colony period in the light of archaeological & philological data

This study was carried out with the permission given by the Kayseri Archaeological Museum. 93 spindle whorls and 130 loom weights which are unearthed during the Kültepe excavations conducted between 1948 and 2010 were examined. There are 4 main and 6 sub-groups in the spindle whorls of Kültepe. 66 of the spindle whorls were made of terracotta, 23 of them were made of stone and 4 of them were made of bone. Clay colors of terracotta spindle whorls are black, gray, buff, beige tones. The motifs on the surface of the spindle whorls were usually made by drawing or grooving and also by scraping, notching and dot printing. A few examples show that the motifs were painted with white paint. These motifs were mostly applied around the spindle hole of the spindle whorls. Weight of the looms has 6 main and 6 sub-groups. 130 of these works were made of terracotta and 4 of them were made of stone. The clay colors of terracotta weights vary in gray, black, buff and tile tones. The purpose of this study was to determine the tools for textile production during the Assyrian Trade Colonies period in Kültepe, to determine their usage area and techniques and to classify them typologically.