Spinning Wheel (Eurasian Diffusion)

Timeline

1. c. 1000–1200India and northern China · East AsiaTreadle wheels and horizontal wheels developed independently or influenced each other in India and northern China, using a flywheel and drive belt to turn the spindle so the spinner's hands are free to draw fiber, far outperforming the vertical hand spindle.
2. c. 1200–1280Mediterranean–North Sea trade belt · North SeaIn the early 13th century the spinning wheel reached southern Europe through the Arab world and technical exchange following the Crusades, then spread northward; wool-producing regions and silk trade nodes became key hubs for its adoption.
3. c. 1291–1300Flanders and Jiangnan · Jiangnan, ChinaBy the late 13th century the wool industry of the Low Countries and the silk and cotton handicrafts of Jiangnan both commonly used the spinning wheel; household and guild workshops divided labor, and the spinning–weaving–dyeing chain matured to support intercontinental textile trade.
4. c. 1700English textile districts · EnglandMechanical spinning devices such as the spinning jenny replaced the traditional spinning wheel in the 18th century, marking the end of the hand-spinning era; traditional wheels survive in folk customs and craft traditions.