VISUAL ACTIVITY

Ancient American Weaving This workbasket of a master weaver illustrates the technology of ancient American textile production. Found in a woman’s grave in the Andes dating from one thousand years ago, the workbasket contains tools and thread for every stage of textile production. Weaving—like cooking, hunting, and worship—depended on human knowledge that survived only when passed from an experienced person to a novice.

READING THE IMAGE: What human activities were required to produce the tools in the workbasket?

CONNECTIONS: The production of woven materials such as baskets and textiles was common in the North American cultures of the 1490s; What other similarities did these cultures hold?

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, USA/Gift of Charles H. White/Bridgeman Images.