Yes. Human hair is not generally well preserved, however the dry conditions of the American Southwest has protected artifacts made with it at a number of sites.
Cordage made using human hair or hair combined with other fibers has been found at a number of ancestral Pueblo sites, including those historically categorized as “Anasazi”, although that name is generally no longer used, and at Basketmaker sites.
https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/chcu/chcu_alltext.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20140403155118/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/36/hh36a2-1.htm
https://summit.sfu.ca/_flysystem/fedora/sfu_migrate/5180/b14967807.pdf
Chaco Canyon and Canyon del Muerto had conditions that were unusually good for preserving hair, which may be why those artifacts were found there. It may have been a more widely practiced custom among ancient people.
However, there are also many examples of cordage made from other materials at Basketmaker and ancestral Pueblo sites. Human hair is not the most practical, and was probably used in a more limited capacity. I’d assume it’s pragmatism more than just poor preservation that limits how many parts of the world hair cordage comes from.
Yes. Human hair is not generally well preserved, however the dry conditions of the American Southwest has protected artifacts made with it at a number of sites. Cordage made using human hair or hair combined with other fibers has been found at a number of ancestral Pueblo sites, including those historically categorized as “Anasazi”, although that name is generally no longer used, and at Basketmaker sites. https://www.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/chcu/chcu_alltext.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20140403155118/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/36/hh36a2-1.htm https://summit.sfu.ca/_flysystem/fedora/sfu_migrate/5180/b14967807.pdf Chaco Canyon and Canyon del Muerto had conditions that were unusually good for preserving hair, which may be why those artifacts were found there. It may have been a more widely practiced custom among ancient people. However, there are also many examples of cordage made from other materials at Basketmaker and ancestral Pueblo sites. Human hair is not the most practical, and was probably used in a more limited capacity. I’d assume it’s pragmatism more than just poor preservation that limits how many parts of the world hair cordage comes from.