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The Preparation of Yucca Fibers: An Experimental Study1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2018

Carolyn M. Osborne*
Affiliation:
Wetherill Mesa Archeological Project, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Abstract

Several distinct structural fibers, all yucca, were observed in the twines taken from the Wetherill Mesa sites. Attempts were made to duplicate these fibers, using leaves from Yucca baccata and Yucca harrimaniae. Although our methods did not produce all fibers with the exact coloration of the prehistoric fibers, it is probable that our procedures approximated those of the ancient Indians.

Type
2 Anthropology
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1965 

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Footnotes

1

This is Contribution No. 26 of the Wetherill Mesa Archeological Project.

References

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Kidder, Alfred Vincent and Guernsey, Samuel J. 1919 Archeological Explorations in Northeastern Arizona. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 65. Washington.Google Scholar
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Stevenson, Matilda Coxe 1915 Ethnobotany of the Zuñi Indians. Bureau of American Ethnology, Thirteenth Annual Report, 1908-1909, pp. 31102. Washington.Google Scholar