Twisting through Time: Fremont Cordage and Modern Attempts at Replication

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Cordage, Yarn, and Associated Paraphernalia" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cordage was vital in the daily life of Fremont farmers across the Colorado Plateau. Yet, this humble technology rarely receives the full attention of textile specialists, focused on the intricate half-rod and bundle coiled parching trays, yucca sandals, and other more impressive aspects of the perishable fiber record. This talk examines a variety of fiber cordage artifacts recovered from Fremont contexts across eastern Utah as well as attempts to replicate this basic technology. Many of these items, including snares, bowstrings, sandal ties, bundles of unprocessed fiber, and nets, were collected without regard to context or provenience. This current study attempts to overcome these disadvantages by providing temporal context via direct radiocarbon dates, microscopic analysis of botanical components, and actualistic experiments in replication. This approach can discern patterns of time, material usage, and technological methods across the thousands of cordage fragments and cordage-derived artifacts found in museums across the Colorado Plateau. While context and associations may be lost due to indiscriminate and unethical collecting practices, this approach can add value to collections that were previously considered outside of serious scientific inquiry.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Cordage, Yarn, and Associated Paraphernalia   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35720.0