Three Vs were uncovered in a complex of rooms carved into the bedrock near the Gihon Spring. Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron found the carvings in early December 2011. Capt. Montague Parker, a British adventurer and proto-archaeologist, reported finding similar carvings a century ago in another house nearby and published them. What archaeologists can say with certainty is that potsherds found nearby indicate that the rooms with the Vs  were last used around 800 BCE, at which point they were filled with rubble to support the construction of a defensive wall. The straight lines of the house's walls and level floors suggest that special effort was put into building the complex, and its location next to the Gihon Spring point to their having an important purpose. But the findings also suggest that the rooms were an ordinary place where the daily life of a Biblical city went on. Archaeologists discovered nearby the remains of olive presses and a small upright stone. There is a pointer to what the carvings on the floor are all about in the form of a dozen or so weights used to hold down threads from a loom, which were discovered in an adjacent room. "It's possible that these Vs were used to hold upright vertical looms," Reich said (The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=248701).

    The patriarch of the Jewish nation, Abraham, was presumably nurtured in Akkadia, the most advanced civilization of its time. It is written that Abraham and his entourage emigrated from Akkadia (Biblical Shinar) to establish himself and his posterity in Canaan.
    Mesopotamian statues and iconography, dating from earlier than 3000 BCE into the Akkadian period, depict woolen textiles of diverse weaves, some richly patterned and others with looped fringes. The cleansing and coloring of these textiles was a sophisticated and secret art. The Jews became privy to those secrets, and that knowledge was one of the mainstays of the textile industry as it was practiced by the Jews in the Diaspora into the modern era.
    Before the dyeing of wool can take place, the oils have to be removed, a process called "fulling." A number of  bleaching and detergent substances ("soaps") were used in ancient Akkadia. The bleacher or "fuller" took his Akkadian name from the azalog (soapwort plant). He also obtained the necessary caustic alkalis from wood ashes (potash) or plant ashes (soda). (Hebrew History Federation - Dye-Making A Judaic Traditional Art - Fact Paper 21 - Samuel Kurinsky - http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpapers/fp021_dyemaking.htm)

    The limited number of whorls and loomweights found in the City of David provides evidence for domestic weaving activity rather than industrial production. It is probable that the textiles produced at the City of David were of wool, and not linen, which was manufactured in the Beth She'an Valley. A large quantity of sheep bones was found in the City of David. The limited weaving and spinning activity in the City of David thus probably utilized wool. (Qedem 35, Chapter 3, "Loomweights and Whorls")

    The complex of rooms recently found near the Gihon Spring by Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron may have been used by the fullers in king Hezekiah's day. It has been noted that the top of Warren's Shaft was cut through in the time of Hezekiah. This complex of rooms is adjacent to the top of Warren's Shaft and it would have been possible for the fullers to draw water from there. "Warren's Shaft was built according to the usual formula for underground water systems at royal centers in the tenth - ninth centuries BCE. It connected the northern part of the City of David (and perhaps even its citadel) with the water source. In the late eighth - sixth centuries BCE, the three systems could have functioned simultaneously, all fed from the single source, and the flow of water through them could have been controlled. Hezekiah's Tunnel has continuously conveyed water to the Siloam Pool ever since, Water could also reach the base of Warren's Shaft, from whence it could be drawn for use in the city directly above." (ARCHAEOLOGY AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION - Chapter 14 - "Underground water systems in Eretz-Israel in the Iron Age" - Yigal Shiloh - Institute of Archaeology  Hebrew University page 220)

    Isaiah 7:3 - Then said the Lord unto Isaiah, "Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field". The "conduit" mentioned here must refer to the northern end of the Siloam Channel as Hezekiah had not yet become king and had yet to construct his tunnel. According to Strong's concordance, Fullers' (#3526) is translated, "to trample; hence to wash (prop. by stamping with the feet) and Field (#7704) to spread out; a field (as flat)".
    Isaiah 36:2, 3 - And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field. Then came forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, Asaph's son, the recorder. These verses refer to the exact same spot as Isaiah 7:3 but Hezekiah was now king.
     According to the IAA, "Loom weights and a beaten chalk floor were covered with a thick layer of small stone chips that derived from the quarrying of a hard bedrock layer, when the Warren's Shaft system was made deeper. The loomweights indicated that at the end of Iron Age II the place ceased to be used as a public underground water system and was taken over by private individuals, who were engaged in weaving."
    II Kings 18:17, 18 - And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field. And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. When Rabshakeh called to king Hezekiah, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was head over the household came out to them. Isaiah 18:18 helps us to understand that Rabshakeh was very near the palace when he called to the king. The previous verse tells us where they were when they called to the king: "...by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field". The palace has been shown to be on top of the ridge and the upper pool, with its associated conduit, is located at the bottom of the ridge. The area in between, just outside the mid-slope wall, was utilized by the fullers.