MINOR ANTIQUITIES
(continued)

FABRICS

The yucca plant, which grows wild in the canyons and level places of the Mesa Verde, furnishes a tough fiber which the prehistoric people of Spruce-tree House used in the manufacture of various fabrics. Small packages of this fiber and cords made of the same material were found in the refuse-heap and in the houses these were apparently obtained by heating and chewing the leaves, after which the fiber was drawn out into cords or braided into strings.

FIG. 21. Belt.

A braided cord was also found attached to the handles of jars, and this fiber was a favorite one in mending pottery. It was almost universally employed in weaving cloth netting and other fabrics, where it was combined with cotton fiber. Belts (fig. 21) or head bands (figs. 22, 23) show the best examples of this weaving. Native cotton fiber is not as common as yucca, being more difficult apparently to procure. There is some doubt regarding the cultivation of the cotton plant, and no cotton seeds were identified; the cloth woven from this fiber shows great skill in weaving.

The bark of willows and alders was utilized for fabrics, but this furnished material for basketry rather than for cloth.

One of the most beautiful specimens of woven cloth yet obtained in the Mesa Verde ruins was taken from room 11; this is apparently a headband for carrying bundles.

FIG. 22. Headband.

Among the objects obtained in the northern refuse-heap were rings made of the leaf and fiber of yucca and other plants, sometimes blackened as if by fire (fig. 24). These rings may have been used for carrying jars on the head, although some are too large and flat for that purpose. It has been suggested that the largest were used in some game, but this theory lacks confirmation.

FIG. 23. End of headband

FIG. 24. Head ring.

Small fragments of matting were found, but no complete specimen came to light. These fragments resemble those referred to by Nord enskiöld as "objects used in carpeting the floors." It was customary among some of the sedentary Indians of the Southwest to sleep on rectangular mats, and in one building of compound B of Casa Grande impressions of these mats were found on the floor.

Fragments of cloth made of yucca fiber (fig. 25), in which feathers are woven, are abundant in the refuse heaps of Spruce-tree House. There were found also many strings in which feathers were woven (fig. 26), but of these nothing but the midribs remain.

FIG. 25. Yucca-fiber cloth with attached feathers.

FIG. 26. Woven cord.

The object shown in figure 27 is made of agave fiber tied in a series of loops. Its use is unknown.

FIG. 27. Agave fiber tied in loops.

Several sandals were excavated at Spruce-tree House, the majority from the refuse-heap in the rear of the dwellings. One of these specimens, figure 28, is in good condition; it is evidently a mortuary object, being found near a skeleton. The other specimen (fig. 29) is fragmentary, consisting of a sole of a sandal with attached toe cords.

FIG. 28. Woven moccasin.

FIG. 29. Fragment of sandal.

Several specimens of slender yucca leaves bound in a bundle were found. One of these (fig. 30) served as a hair-brush, or was used in stirring food. One brush made of finer material was collected.

FIG. 30. Hair-brush.