Textile Tools and Technologies from the Postclassic Huasteca: Artistic and Archaeological Evidence

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.

During the Postclassic period, the Huasteca region along the northeastern Gulf Coast was an important producer of textiles made of zapupe (the local name for ixtle, that is, agave or yucca plant fibers) and especially cotton as evidenced in early colonial manuscripts, such as the Codex Mendoza and Los Lienzos de Tuxpan. Although to-date no significant Postclassic textiles from the Huasteca have been found archaeologically, this paper examines the visual representations of textiles and knotted strings that are parts of garments (like belts or armbands) in sculptures, murals, shell ornaments, and codices. This artistic evidence will be systematically analyzed to identify types of garments, patterns and ornamentations of textiles, and styles of knots. We will also examine the archaeological context from new excavations in the southern Huasteca, especially spindle whorls and organic materials. The analysis of the size of spindle whorls may indicate what fibers were used. Moreover, these archaeological remains will be compared to textile tools found in other parts of the Huasteca. We argue that the artistic and archaeological record supports sixteenth-century historical evidence that the Huasteca was a significant textile producer that increased production to fulfill the tribute demands of the Triple Alliance.

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): 23396