63.50.123, shirt fragment
Cotton?
Hohokam culture, probably A.D. 1000–1150
UNM field school collection
Photograph by B. Bernard
This ratty-looking fragment of cloth is one of the more important
archaeological textiles at the Maxwell Museum. The holes woven into
the cloth give it away as a product of the Hohokam culture of
southern Arizona. It was most likely
part of an elaborate shirt, but the surviving fragment measures
only 12 by 10 cm (5 by 4 inches).
The piece's importance derives from its being found at Chetro Ketl in Chaco Canyon, during a UNM field school (for training students in archaeology) in the 1930s. Archaeologists have looked for connections between Chaco and the contemporary Hohokam settlements of southern Arizona, given that those two areas had the most spectacular cultural developments in the U.S. Southwest up to that time. Very little evidence of direct contact has been found —they did not trade pottery to each other, for example. This surviving shirt fragment is a reminder that exchanges between the two cultural centers may have involved a few specific things (including rarities) that usually do not survive in archaeological sites.
It's difficult to appreciate the fineness of Hohokam weaving from the piece found at Chetro Ketl. The example in the next photograph, from an unknown location in southern Arizona, does a better job of conveying how delicate such weaving can be. Even this second piece does not show the best Hohokam work, almost none of which has survived. The second example measures 15 by 12 centimeters (6 by 5 inches).
72.44.5, shirt fragment
Cotton?
Hohokam culture, A.D. 500–14550
Gift of Florence Hawley Ellis
Photograph by B. Bernard
The two textile fragments on this page both use an unusual method to produce distinctive rows of tiny holes in the fabric. After 5 or 7 rows of horizontal weft threads, each pair of vertical warp threads was twisted around each other.
Replica Hohokam-style weaving by L. Greenawald
Photograph by B. Bernard
This replica made with thicker cotton yarn shows what the weaving looked like up close.
Replica Hohokam-style weaving by L. Greenawald
Photograph by B. Bernard
A photograph lit from behind shows how the warp and weft yarns were crossed.
To return to the previous page, please click on your browser's "back" button, or click here.
All content copyright © Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. A high-resolution verson of this photograph may be ordered from the Maxwell Museum's photo archives. Please make note of the catalogue number. For more information please visit the photo archives web page
Page last revised on May 27, 2008. Please report problems to toh@unm.edu