"Threading the Needle: Recognizing Early Sewing and Bone Working Traditions in Alaska"
Sewing is a rich tradition in the far North that combines intergenerational knowledge with creativity to make beautiful garments that are impressively resistant to the cold. Yet, we know little about the history of this tradition. In this talk, I will share examples of several bone tools and needles recovered from a 13,000-year-old archaeological residence in central Alaska. These artifacts represent the oldest examples of eyed needles recovered from the Americas to date, which were identified as birds using a new protein-based method (ZooMS). Indigenous collaborators have suggested a collection of bird bone tubes from the same context are early evidence of a women's ritual that is still practiced in central Alaska today. Combined, these diverse ways of knowing help to shed light on the lives of the first women in the Americas.
Briana N. Doering joined us in support of her mentorship of ISSR Scholar Anna Antoniou (Anthropology).