Weaving and Spinning Technologies from the Northern Southwest: Recent Research by the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Textile Tools and Technologies as Evidence for the Fiber Arts in Precolumbian Societies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Perishable materials that provide information about precontact weaving traditions rarely preserve in the archaeological record. One region where they have survived is the Four Corners region of the North American Southwest, where the arid environment and intensive use of dry caves allow for the extensive preservation of textiles and production implements related to cotton processing and weaving. These fabrics and tools demonstrate a robust tradition of cotton textile production and provide a rare glimpse into its underlying material culture. Recent research by the Cedar Mesa Perishables Project has resulted in the documentation and analysis of numerous wooden cotton beaters, spindle sticks, awls, temples, battens, and finishing needles, as well as wood, gourd, and bighorn sheep horn spindle whorls, from sites in southeastern Utah and northeastern Arizona. This work has identified cultural preferences in the selection of raw materials and documented the construction techniques used to make various implements. These precontact weaving and spinning traditions also provide a direct connection to contemporary Pueblo Indian tribes, with Pueblo weavers using many of the same weaving technologies today.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Textile Tools and Technologies as Evidence for the Fiber Arts in Precolumbian Societies

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23440