Spinning and weaving of cotton, and perhaps also of silk, had attained a high degree of perfection. Spin- ning was then, as always, the part-time occupation of women. The weaving of complex patterns on clothes and silk is often mentioned in literature and, accord- ing to the Periplus, Uraiyur was a great centre of the cotton trade. The poems mention cotton cloth as thin as the slough of the snake or a cloud of steam, so ﬁnely woven that the eye could not follow the course of the thread. Scissors and needles were known and employed in cutting hair and in dressmaking; a kind of hair pomade (tagaram) is mentioned also.