A traditional South American weaving loom
Weaving is one of the most basic and ancient crafts known to mankind. Looms have been used in one guise or another for thousands of years to craft essential items like cloth for clothing, bedding and upholstery; for making rugs, carpets, wall hangings and curtains. Weaving raw plant fibers is also used to make baskets and furniture.
Types
Looms come in many types: There are lap looms, which can be simple frames with warp threads stung around them; hexagonal flat frames with nails for holding the warp threads; suspended looms like those of the Navajo Indians, or floor looms which range from small setups to complex designs that take up a whole room and weave large bolts of fabric. Lap weaving doesn't have to involve a loom, as is the case with most basketry weaving, but all weaving has something in common: the warp thread. Warp thread is either suspended or strung on a loom, or is pieced together in the case of basket making---the warp is the set of threads that the weft threads are woven through to make a weaving.
Function
The function of looms is to hold the warp threads in place; to hold the weaving still while the weft threads are being woven in, and in the case of mechanized looms, the loom is also the weaver of both warp and weft threads. Larger looms can hold multiple weft threads and weave complex designs. Smaller lap looms like hexagon weaving looms are capable of less complex designs, though many different designs can still be made on these smaller looms.
Benefits
The benefits of lap looms and larger industrial looms are manifold. For primitive man they provided the means to make rough clothing---protection from the elements. Weaving using plant fibers also allowed for primitive man to catch food with ease using nets, and woven structures were used as basic dwellings. As the art and science progressed, so too did the benefits of weaving. Looms allow for finer threads to be woven, and cloths like silk, cotton and linen are still some of the most used fabrics on earth.
History
The history of weaving and looms is almost as old as the history of mankind itself. According to Susan Wylly of Georgia College and State University, the oldest remnants of woven artifacts date back to 8000 BC---but weaving is thought to have been a part of prehistoric life long before that. Basket weaving is thought to be the first kind of weaving to develop, but models of complex floor looms have been found in Egyptian tombs dating to around 5000 BC. Advances in looms include the development of the shed stick---a stick passed through the waft threads to create a clear passage for the weft thread to pass through (prior to this the weft was manually put between each waft threat). The invention of the heddle stick also made weaving easier and speedier, as multiple threads could be lifted at once, allowing for quick and easy weaving. According to Alien Travel Guide, the mechanization of the loom in the industrial revolution changed weaving from a craft to an industry, with automated machines now doing the work of weavers.
Misconceptions
It is a common misconception that weaving is a difficult task---the simple 'under over' technique is easily performed by anyone---even young children can weave using this technique. A basic 'under over' lap loom is even made from a piece of cardboard with slits in each end to hold the warp threads---weaving is as complex or as simple as you make it.
