Methods for the Identification of the Leaf Fibers of Mescal (Agave), Yucca (Yucca), Beargrass (Nolina) and Sotol (Dasylirion)

Abstract

In this study, an examination has been made of the leaf fibers from various species of the genera Agave, Yucca, Nolina and Dasylirion in order to establish a technique and to present a set of diagnostic characters which can be used in the identification of archaeological material suspected of containing such fibers.The split leaves of various species belonging to these genera have been used widely by the aboriginal inhabitants of the American Southwest in the manufacture of sandals, mattings, and baskets. The fibers extracted from their leaves were made into cordage, which was employed in the manufacture of a great variety of articles.Archaeologists are continually encountering this material and identifying it on the basis of its gross or external appearance, yet, so far as the authors have been able to ascertain, no one has described a convenient method of identification.