It may seem that a few of the weavings, recovered at the shelter, should be called other than weaving. These are the twinings. But weavings they are, and weavings I shall call them. My allie here is Webster's dictionary. Here the term twining is referred to as "interlacing", and this as weaving. So it's six of one and a half dozen the other. That said, lets move on. As you were sure to note, in past listings of displays, a small school icon noted the suggestion that there was evidence that teaching aids were among the artifacts, again with twining. As is evident in many of the displays offered here, twining itself frequently was the teaching aid. But not of parent to child, but of the subconscious to the everyday thinking of man, man human. A school house within the mind of man. Those experienced in the artifacts of twining, may have noted the open, almost casual form of the weave. Strength is not the byword of twining. One weave that lacked the ability to survive. To sit upon, to make use of as a mat weave, as was common with mats, at the Zueberbueler shelter, the twining weave was a nonstarter. Can you see the survival of this weak weave, as someone shifted the body about? Life would have been very short. But there must have been a need, the numbers were not rare, common no, but not rare. To achieve an answer to this problem, the old fashion system was used, "think like early man, and learn his needs". Twining was recovered in two forms, the mat shape, and the use in basket making. I would direct you to the display on baskets, here in Weaving. Many samples were found, and a reasonable suggestion of how twining was employed, is displayed. But the mat form was less abundant. Fortunately a complete weave of twining, in the mat style was recovered. Too fragile to open in full, it would be most difficult to display here as a net display. But information was there, in great quantities. Proportions were, almost three feet wide, and close to the same in length. Most valuable, it offered a good image of what a twined mat could do. And sitting on it, was not the answer. A common, or somewhat common, artifact at the site, were the burials of children. One, a totally intact child is displayed here at the Pecos. Additionally, the feature of small beds also was as common. Many would become, early man "trash cans", one held 14 discarded sandals. Now we add the learned knowledge of how these early humans cared and raised their children and we get our last clue. The mobiles, also here on display. With over twenty and their numbers climbing, as additional work is going on, offer us a picture of a baby as it spent it's young hours. We know how man, or mother, had great concern for the well being of the child. A bed made with the pads of Prickly Pair cactus, pins off naturally, blankets of rabbit furs, mobiles to entertain. But this is West Texas, and as I worked the site, went two years without rain, a hot Texas. The shelter faced to the east, a face to a hot morning sun. It was at this point I added my actions to that of early man's. Was no great task, just lowered my sun blinds. Yes you are correct if you said, "they are the same". My Kmart blinds and my early man twining weave. Just as my 5 year BP, blinds held out the sun, and passed the breeze, so did the early man twining, of 2,000 BP. Propped up by sticks, this simple weave offered a needed shade for the child. The life of a twining would be extended, no longer at the mercy of someone's rear. Next time you are in the mall, visit a department store selling shades, see a invention of early man. I wonder if he had it patented?
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or...
The weaving directory?
The weaving directory?