Spinning history

So I taught a "how to spin with a drop spindle" class on the weekend and I kind of got my brain stuck on that path.  I bought a "Spin Off" magazine today and it had an article describing stone carvings clearly showing a spinning wheel in China maybe 2000 yrs old.  Cool, that would rewrite history a bit.  It's a rimless wheel with a treadle no less.  Normally, it's said that the invention of the wheel is from China or India 500 to 1000 yrs ago.

Now I'm collecting info about the history of spinning wheels in the hopes to have a clearer vision of how and where they developed.  I also took a class on "early medieval spinning wheels" at Pennsic.  Although not the best presentation, it did give me the bug to find out more.  I think that would be a fascinating addition to our medieval demos that we do every year.

Again, I stand at the edge of a cliff ready to take another step thinking "what am I getting into now?"
;-P