To decipher markings on ancient artifacts, researchers spent months learning from the Indigenous Pala’wan people.
One of the first steps in the study involved securing an introduction to the Pala’wan. Xhauflair presented her research plan to the councils of elders of several villages. The councils granted her and her colleagues permission to live with Pala’wan communities for three months and record craftspeople as they used tools for various tasks, including processing plant-based fibers.
Xhauflair emulated Pala’wan techniques to strip and pull apart layers of plants such as bamboo and palm to make strong, flexible strips and other fibers. Many of the plants and techniques left distinct notches and striations on tool surfaces. Comparing the markings with those on the artifacts revealed striking similarities, which suggests that the ancient tools had been used in fiber making too.
Remnants of ancient fibers are particularly rare, since the plant materials used to make them tend to decay quickly in the wet, humid tropics. The oldest evidence for fiber making anywhere in the world goes back roughly 120,000 years in Israel.
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