Prehistoric Cordage: Identification of Impressions on Pottery

Description

Author: Hurley, William M.

Publisher: Taraxacum, Inc. (Washington, D.C.)

Pub Date: 1979

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fair.  Binding tight.  No marks, tears, bends or folds.  Without dust jacket, as issued.  Smudging to lower front board and upper edge rear board.  Upper edge of the front board has an approx. 1/2″ bump/dent.  Wear to spine head and foot.

Notes:  Aldine Manuals on Archeology 3.  “The decoration or treatment of the surfaces of vessels using cords, cor-wrapped sticks, or fabrics has long history in Japan, extending from about 8000 to 0 B.C.  This cultural tradition is termed ‘Jomon,’ which translates roughly as ‘cord or string decoration,’….Two renowned scholars, who can be justifiably acknowledged as the pioneers in this aspect of archeology, are Sugao Yamanouchi of Japan and William H. Holmes of the United States…” (From the Foreword).  “The first archeologist to recognize that fabrics can be reconstructed from their impressions on pottery was W.H. Holmes.  He made casts and identified several techniques of construction, which he compared with fabrics made by historic Indians.  Holmes noted that fabrics and cords have their own geometric systems and that these systems influence other styles of art directly or indirectly, suggesting that each medium can potentially have a message….He was the first to note similarities between the design motifs on fabrics and the decoration on vessels and facades of buildings, particularly in Mesoamerica and South America”  (From the Introduction)