Time taken to manufacture woolen cloth in Europe 1200s-1600s
Wool was so valuable due to the complexity and duration of its manufacturing process, where a single length of wool would take approximately 6,000 hours (250 days) to prepare in the 13th century. By the 17th century, labor productivity had risen to the point where the same quality of wool could be produced in less than half the time taken in the 13th century, although there had been no major technological advances in this time. The most significant technological developments had taken place around the turn of the first millennium CE, with the introduction of the horizontal loom, and around 1250, when the spinning wheel first appeared in Italy (Venice); these devices are thought to have originated in China and India respectively.