Socioeconomic Implications of Prehistoric Textile Production in the Eastern Woodlands
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281 Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 462 ©1997 Materials Research Society
EXPERIMENT Comparative Plant Fiber Collection Based on a review of ethnographic literature specific to the Eastern Woodlands and the evidence embodied in the archaeological textiles themselves [13, 14, 15, 16] a group of plant taxa were selected to serve as sources of fiber raw material. A total of 14 families and 18 genera were collected in the first phase of the construction of the Comparative Plant Fiber Collection (CPFC)[i 7, 18, 19]. Each plant stem was processed in four ways simulating the possible routes by which they would have been processed in the past: 1) hammering and peeling the fibers or fiber bundles, 2) soaking in water for two weeks to simulate the effects of retting, then hand peeling the fibers from the stems, 3) boiling the stems in water and peeling the fibers, and 4) boiling the stems in water with potassium carbonate and peeling the fibers from the stems. The relative ease of processing and quantity of fiber yield was recorded. Longitudinal and crosssectional views of each of the fiber products were examined microscopically and key characteristics (e.g., fiber diameter and morphological details) were noted in a database. Infrared spectra, scanning electron micrographs of fibers and of associated inorganic inclusions have been accumulated as well. While identification to genera and species is not possible, comparison of multiple attributes of observed fibers of unknown identity to the fibers of the CPFC does allow classification of the fiber product in question to a Group category that encompasses a limited range of possibilities. Observation and Metric Evaluation of Raw Material Sources Results of the initial experimentation and observations made in the construction of the CPFC led to the selection of three genera for further analysis: Apocynum cannabinum L. (Indian hemp); Laportea canadensis(L.) Wedd. (wood nettle); and Asclepias luberosaL. (butterflyweed). Two major habitats are represented: open, disturbed habitats of full sun (represented by the growth habits of A. cannabinumand A. tuberosa)and undisturbed, mesic wooded areas (represented by the growth habits of L. canadensis). The quantification of the overall cost of textile manufacture requires a study of the investment of time and labor required to obtain raw materials. Factors that affect energy expenditure for collection include resource-use schedule and demographic arrangement (i.e. the number of individuals required to obtain and process the resource) [20]. The problems identified above could have been approached and/or solved by the prehistoric socioeconomic system by considering availability of resources and fiber yield. Factors that affect availability include the location of the resource, density of resource, and season of maturity. Factors that affect fiber yield include the quality of fiber produced by each taxon, and the overall size of the plant. These aspects of the fiber resource are quantified and subsequently ranked to form a fiber plant utility
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