A PRIMITIVE WEAVING FRAME. 



507 



reedf' 



=lf 



of the Zuni loom, but in all the looms of the Southwest the healds are 

 lashed to crossbars. 



Specimen No. 1()5534 is a small batten frame or reed from (luadalajara, 

 Mexico, collected by P. L. Joiiy. It consists of sixty-four 

 made of l)its of flat iron, somewhat like those of 

 a small clock spring. These are set at the top 

 and bottom between two semicylindrical bits of 

 wood and held in place l)v half-hitches of twine, 

 whicb not onl}'^ hold fast the reeds, but also 

 give unifoTOi spacing for the warp. The col- 

 lector says that ''it is used for separating the 

 threads of the warp in weaving the ^ rerbozos "■ or 

 ornamental head shawls," universal throughout 

 Latin America (fig. 19). 



At the side of this frame upright pieces are 

 set in between the ends of the crosspiece and 

 held in place by lashing. There are no dents or 

 stirrups in this piece, so that it could not in any 

 way have been used as a heddle or harness, but 

 simply as a reed in beating home the weft. The 

 noticeable feature is the method of attaching 

 the upright iron portions to the crossbars, which 

 is very similar to that used by the Zuni in 

 attaching the healds to their heddle frames. 



Example No. 166694 in the U. S. National 

 Museum is a heddle frame labeled Moki or 

 Tusayan, collected by Mr. James Mooney. The 

 frame sticks are 22f inches long. There are 

 eighty-two healds of reed and eighty-one spaces, 

 so that there is in all provision for one hundred 

 and sixty -three warp threads. The healds are 

 8f inches long, giving an excursion to the warp 

 threads of T inches; at their upper and lower 

 ends they are laid on different sides of the 

 crossbars, so that in looking at the apparatus 

 the crossbar will be on the side of the eye, and 

 the other will appear behind the ends of the 

 healds. 



As before remarked, there are a great many 

 specimens made in this way, although there are others in which the 

 crossbars.are both on the same side of the healds as in a gate. The 

 ends of the healds are attached to the crossbars by a peculiar kind 

 of lashing, in which the twine or filament crosses itself over the 

 healds and lies in somewhat parallel lines on the sides of the cross- 

 bars (Plate 6). 



Fig. 18. 



HEDDLE FROM ZUSl. 



Showing the healds on alter- 

 nate sides of crossbars, 

 t'at. No. 41666. U.S.N.M. Col- 

 lected by J. W. Powell. 



