Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells
Although the importance of textiles in Mesoamerica from the Classic period (AD 250-900) onward is well-recognised, until recently little research or exploration of earlier Mesoamerican textile production has been conducted. This paucity of scholarship is attributable predominantly to the scant prese...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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EXARC
2022-12-01
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| Series: | EXARC Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10663 |
| _version_ | 1826958747128299520 |
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| author | Billie J. A. Follensbee |
| author_facet | Billie J. A. Follensbee |
| author_sort | Billie J. A. Follensbee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Although the importance of textiles in Mesoamerica from the Classic period (AD 250-900) onward is well-recognised, until recently little research or exploration of earlier Mesoamerican textile production has been conducted. This paucity of scholarship is attributable predominantly to the scant preservation of perishable ancient tools and textiles. New sources of information have been recognized, however, in the re-identification of a number of Pre-Classic/Formative period (1500 BC-AD 250) stone objects as high-status versions of tools used for fabricating textiles. Some of these ancient objects, such as spindle whorls and weaving awls, are readily identifiable as tools because closely comparable, preserved counterparts are found in later Mesoamerican cultures. Other potential tools may be less obvious, however, since early tools were often derived from natural objects that were adopted and repurposed for specific tasks because of their serendipitously appropriate form; stone versions of these tools may, therefore, be indistinguishable from stone effigies of the natural objects. One Pre-Classic/Formative period stone effigy that may in fact be a tool takes the form of an elongated bivalve shell; not only are these shell effigies pierced for suspension in the same manner as artifacts that have been identified as elite tools but the effigies – and perhaps the shells themselves – are also depicted in ancient stone sculpture illustrating high-status individuals who wear the stone artifacts and/or the shells in the same manner as tools are worn. Experimental archaeology has been used successfully to test reproductions of stone artifacts as textile-making tools, and this methodology may also therefore serve as a pragmatic method for testing actual natural objects – in this case, the shells – as textile-making tools. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:30:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a948c7631a0c4da68fc628d97ef1eb8b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2212-8956 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-18T00:41:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | EXARC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | EXARC Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-a948c7631a0c4da68fc628d97ef1eb8b2024-11-27T13:38:42ZengEXARCEXARC Journal2212-89562022-12-012022/4ark:/88735/10663Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam ShellsBillie J. A. FollensbeeAlthough the importance of textiles in Mesoamerica from the Classic period (AD 250-900) onward is well-recognised, until recently little research or exploration of earlier Mesoamerican textile production has been conducted. This paucity of scholarship is attributable predominantly to the scant preservation of perishable ancient tools and textiles. New sources of information have been recognized, however, in the re-identification of a number of Pre-Classic/Formative period (1500 BC-AD 250) stone objects as high-status versions of tools used for fabricating textiles. Some of these ancient objects, such as spindle whorls and weaving awls, are readily identifiable as tools because closely comparable, preserved counterparts are found in later Mesoamerican cultures. Other potential tools may be less obvious, however, since early tools were often derived from natural objects that were adopted and repurposed for specific tasks because of their serendipitously appropriate form; stone versions of these tools may, therefore, be indistinguishable from stone effigies of the natural objects. One Pre-Classic/Formative period stone effigy that may in fact be a tool takes the form of an elongated bivalve shell; not only are these shell effigies pierced for suspension in the same manner as artifacts that have been identified as elite tools but the effigies – and perhaps the shells themselves – are also depicted in ancient stone sculpture illustrating high-status individuals who wear the stone artifacts and/or the shells in the same manner as tools are worn. Experimental archaeology has been used successfully to test reproductions of stone artifacts as textile-making tools, and this methodology may also therefore serve as a pragmatic method for testing actual natural objects – in this case, the shells – as textile-making tools.https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10663textileweavingloommexicoiron ageguatemala |
| spellingShingle | Billie J. A. Follensbee Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells EXARC Journal textile weaving loom mexico iron age guatemala |
| title | Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells |
| title_full | Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells |
| title_fullStr | Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells |
| title_short | Function Follows Form: Assessing the Functionality of Shells and Greenstone Shell Effigies as Formative Period Mesoamerican Textile Fabrication Tools, Part 1: Tagelus plebeius Atlantic Stout Razor Clam Shells |
| title_sort | function follows form assessing the functionality of shells and greenstone shell effigies as formative period mesoamerican textile fabrication tools part 1 tagelus plebeius atlantic stout razor clam shells |
| topic | textile weaving loom mexico iron age guatemala |
| url | https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10663 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT billiejafollensbee functionfollowsformassessingthefunctionalityofshellsandgreenstoneshelleffigiesasformativeperiodmesoamericantextilefabricationtoolspart1tagelusplebeiusatlanticstoutrazorclamshells |