Ancient twined garments of fur, feather, and fiber: Context and variation across the American Desert West

Abstract

Ancient perishable textiles, once overlooked in favor of other material classes, now are recognized as revealing indicators of style, function, and technology, importantly shaped by complex social and economic processes. With adequate preservation and concerted dating efforts aimed specifically at textiles, archaeologists are asking new questions about technological and stylistic variations and their ability to highlight once obscure social forces, such as learning modes, idiosyncratic behaviors, social interactions and identities, population mobility, and more. Here, I review potential sources of variation in the production and use of fur, feather and fiber open-twined robes/blankets (and their associated cordage components) by ethnohistoric and prehistoric mobile foragers, and semi-settled and sedentary farmers of the American Desert West. With a qualitative approach, I assess the proposition that patterned variation within and between foraging and farming cultures, each with different mobility patterns and diverse social structures, is observable in the mechanical details of such textiles, and that such variation can inform us at different scales of inquiry. Examining limited samples of preserved textiles from dry caves, cliff dwellings, and pueblos, now housed in western museum collections, I consider evidence for variation and regularity in cordage and twined textile production mechanics at the level of the individual, site, community, and region. Finally, I note the persistence and relevance of ancient textile traditions in contemporary contexts of identity.