MONTEZUMA CASTLE Montezuma Castle Archeology - Part 2: Textiles

(No. 38)

Specimen 38 does not fall into the Pueblo III and IV period, as most of the other items do. It is a small fragment of what appears to be a BM II or III twined-woven bag. The weaving technique follows exactly that described in PMP VIII, 2 (pp. 65-74, Pl. 27, Figs. c and d). The wefts are paired, one strand passing over, and one under a warp. To make the next step, the back strand is brought forward, over the next warp, and the front passed under it, etc. The only difference from the BM bags described is that they are made chiefly of apocynum, sometimes with a little yucca fiber added, whereas this fragment is of two-ply twisted yucca cords throughout. A mixture of Yucca macrocarpa and Y. baccata fibers is used.

In one small section of the fragment one of each weft pair is colored red with an external dye which reacts to the test for iron. Thus each line of weaving is beaded, half red and half gray. This decoration again parallels Guernsey and Kidder's description.

This tiny fragment assumes an important role in the series because it is strikingly different in age from the other specimens examined. Its place in the picture can only be determined by comparison with the non-textile objects of material culture at Montezuma Castle.

Specimen 38. Bag (PS No. 162)

Maximum length: 4-3/4"; 12.1 cm.

Maximum width: 3-1/2"; 8.9 cm.

Threads per inch in length: 10; 5 per cm. (Course of two-ply twined wefts)

Threads per inch in width: 7; 3 per cm.

Material: Yucca baccata and Y. macrocarpa.

Decoration: In one small section of the weave some of the wefts are dyed red. The dye reacts to the test for ferric iron. In the two-ply wefts of this section one appears red, the other gray. M&P 13-A-10.

Weave: Appears to be a twined Basketmaker bag. (Cf. PMP VIII, 2, Pl. 27, d.) Wefts: Each weft is composed of two units of string twisted together. 13 fibers per unit; 26 per strand.

Warps: Same.

Plate 50. Bag, Specimen No. 38

Figure 44