Of all the many stories the Zueberbueler shelter had to tell the Pecos, the story of the children was the one most evident.
There was no doubt that the early humans, that made the site their home, shared the same hope for their future as we do even to this day.
This crevice in the wall of the Pecos canyon told of love, and hope
for the generations to follow. The many crafts were to advance as the
archaic parent found ways to pass them on.
Teaching aids were there in abundance. Weaving in it's many forms,
sandals, baskets, along with toys, beds, all told the story of the
children.
It was the baby display that would tell the story of love. What else
can you call the efforts of
a parent that devotes countless hours to the crafts that would
welcome their young, only to
willingly part with them at a time of great loss for any parent.
The story of our child, from the past, began with a small yarn of
the present. It was not so unlike the recovery of any other bit of
weaving to be encountered in the dense waste of ten thousand years.
Maybe the author is pushing this idea of love to far. I will let you be the judge. We can best learn of the parent by taking a better look at the two weavings recovered. The mat and the blanket.
There were several complete weavings among the thousands of items recovered at the site. Those that were weavings of complete mats were among the least common.
Along with a large mat recovered intact, were scores of fragments.
These suggested that mats were commonly large,
from two feet by four feet would seem normal.
Not the babe's mat. Small in size and most unique in workmanship. It's first suggestion to a viewer is that it is a quilt. A patchwork quilt.
Made up of 22 random size blocks, square and rectangular, the total had the appearance of being assembled a block at a time.
How wrong. As we look over the skill of the weaver we see that many parts in truth are only one. The weave is a continuous weave, from edge to edge. How it was accomplished remains a secret still to be learned.
The amount of skill and time is evident. This was not a common product
of the weaver of early times, It must have been a work of love and to
place one's child on it would have been accomplished with pride.
But it was the blanket that would be the work of unbelievable proportions. The hours would not
have added up to the hundreds, more likely in the thousands.
Still encasing the child, the size can only be estimated. A total of five or more square feet would not seem excessive.
A first inspection, the weaving would suggest rabbit furs. Furs that today are as soft as those used thousands of years in the past.
No it was not just a weaving of fur, the blanket was made with hundreds, possibly over a thousand fur wrapped cords. If we start with the first cord and the hunting of the first rabbit, we can only then begin to appreciate the total of effort this artifact required.
If there were a thousand cords used, that would required the killing and preserving hundreds of the small animals. An accumulation that would have taken at least the period the mother knew she had a new life within.
A thousand cords would total two thousand yarns, paired and twisted to make the many cords used. The gathering of plant leaves and their becoming the vast amount of fibers would not be a simple task.
Now there is the need to wrap each of the thousand cords with it's
own strip of the rabbit's fur. And then there is the final task of weaving the blanket.
Both the mat and the blanket were works done with visions of a child. Could we deny there was love in this anticipation. A love that would find it's reward in the mystery of life. A small hand to grasp with a shared love and need.
A love that lasted only days, at most. A love that changed to sorrow.
A sorrow that had parents place their child in the earth as it had
lived, wrapped in the security of it's own rabbit's fur blanket and mat.
A word about history. Our child is not part of the history of todays native Americans.
Their tribal history is limited. The very term "tribe" would place the child beyond their era.
The archaic period of man is often referred to as the "cave man" time. It would be at least a millennium
before the introduction of "modern man", the time when tribes settled here in the Americas.
Their origin is not known, nor the events leading to their present day traditions.
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