I hope this is some use to the discussion:
RE: traditions of female spider entities
Ariadne, the Mediterranean Spider Woman, got her sweetie Theseus out of the labyrinth in Knososs, Crete, where he was bound to be eaten by the Minator, by giving him a ball of yarn from her loom, to find his way in and out. She left with him when he escaped, but I think he dropper her off on some deserted island on the way home.
In the native traditions of the Southwest USA and certain areas in Central and South America,and in part of Africa, Spider Woman is thought of as a helper/grandmother type. She can be a tiny voice in your ear, hinting at how to get out of sticky situations. She can be ornery and quirky, even hostile, but she gives good advice. She is also responcible for teaching weaving and, in some areas, magic. She also represents, in some societies, the fabric of the universe perceived as a web, similar to contemporary "string theory". In that view, she lives in the center of the Milky Way. Sometimes she is represented with spiders in her hair.
The attached foto shows the Mother Goddess from Teotihucan with a spider in her hair. Also included is an old Hopi bowl from northern Arizona with a spider clan design...notice there's a spider woman figure in the center of a concentric web.The little picture is a fragment of a weaving from Peru. Spiderwoman and a couple of friends (actually trophy heads) are waiting between rough lines which seem like a styalized version of a web. The last big picture shows a statue with a skirt made of woven snakes in the pattern of "net" skirts usually worn by the women who are pictured discoursing with "ancestors" whose heads stick out "fire snakes". I have attached a fire snake woman, although she doesn'thave a net skirt. If she had a net skirt, the design would resemble your spider lady's net. I've got one somewhere...if I find it, I'll post it later.
I have also seen petroglyphs of webs in sacred places. (will post when located)
My point in presenting all this? I think the ancient voyagers encountered your spider woman, too.
Thanks for the topic!
--Chal