Article suitable for older students

Cotton and Mesoamerica

22nd Jan 2024

Keith Merwin next to a molded stucco frieze at the ancient Maya site of Holmul

We are very grateful to Keith Merwin for this enlightening introduction to the history of cotton in Mesoamerica. Keith, webmaster for the Institute of Maya Studies, is a retired consultant who worked in telecommunications and information processing for over 20 years. He is related to Dr. Raymond E. Merwin, an early Mayanist for the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. (Shown right: Keith Merwin next to a molded stucco frieze at the ancient Maya site of Holmul)

When you hear about Mesoamerican agriculture you think of corn, but it is little known that modern cotton is a Mesoamerican development.
Cotton is something we can’t get away from. We rely on cotton for over 80% of all the world’s natural fibre production and more than 50% of global fibre. And while synthetic fibres can be produced cheaply, natural fibres, especially cotton, are often preferred. Because of this, cotton is and has been one of the five most valuable crops in the world.

The cotton plant is found on five of the seven continents with only Europe and Antarctica not having any native cotton. Cotton belongs to the genus Gossypium, which contains over 45 species, but today all worldwide commercial production comes from four species. Gossypium hirsutum, or Upland cotton, makes up about 94% of commercial production. Gossypium barbadense (Extra Long Staple), often called Peruvian cotton, Sea Island cotton, Pima cotton, or Egyptian cotton, comes from Peru and accounts for another 4%. The balance, about 2%, is made up of Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium herbaceum, which originated in India and Africa, respectively. So, cotton was independently domesticated in both the Old and New Worlds. The question is, why does New World cotton make up 98% of world production?

The earliest known samples of cotton include a site in ancient India, now Pakistan, with evidence of its use around 5500 BCE. The sample was preserved in copper beads used in a bracelet. It could not be determined if the cotton was from a domesticated species.
The oldest known dyed cotton textiles come from Peru and are dated around 3850 BCE with un-dyed samples at the same site being dated around 4900 BCE*. The earliest samples of G. hirsutum comes from a cave near Tehuacán, Mexico and have been dated to around 5800 BCE, but this date is disputed. As we can see, cotton domestication occurred in many areas of the world.
* “Early Pre-Hispanic Use of Indigo Blue in Peru” by Jeffrey C. Splitstoser, Tom D. Dillehay, Jan Wouters, and Ana Claro, American Association for the Advancement of Science

The reason world production today is based on the two New World species is their superior characteristics. These two species provide longer and stronger fibres than any of the other species. While G. barbadense produces the longest and strongest fibres, it is more difficult to grow and does not produce as much per acre. Over 90% of the world’s cotton crop is made up of G. hirsutum; this long staple cotton produces a strong fibre and is easier to grow.
Another aspect of modern commercial cotton is that it is white. This allows for easier and more consistent dyeing, but varieties developed in Ancient America included white, brown, green, red, and shades of these colors. They chose to produce these colors, as in both Peru and Mesoamerica we have examples of dyed cotton during the same ancient settings. Today we find renewed interest in varieties of colored cotton as they don’t fade while not requiring dyes.

Modern commercial cotton is produced as an annual – planted, grown, and harvested in a single season. But the cotton plant is a perennial lasting many years if it doesn’t freeze. G. arboretum, a species of cotton native to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, is commonly called Tree cotton. It grows as shrub reaching three to six feet in height and six feet wide. Its fibres are coarser and shorter, making it less valuable. G. hirsutum is believed to have been grown as a shrub in ancient times based on its appearance on Maya ceramics. The plant is still grown as a shrub in areas where the weather allows it.

The production of cotton thread in Prehispanic Mesoamerica was done with three simple tools: a thin wooden spindle, a disk or whorl (usually ceramic or limestone), and something to support the spindle, such as a small bowl. Spindle whorls are a common find at Mesoamerican sites. These items are found at Maya and Aztec sites and are considered an indication that cloth-related craft workers were present at the site. Several studies have been conducted on whorls looking at the relationship between their size and weight and how that relates to the type of fibre being spun. Whorls were often decorated and were sometimes ritually broken.

Some researchers have suggested that fine cotton-textile production was a high-status female gendered prerogative. Once the thread was produced, the backstrap loom was used to create the actual textile. Textiles were produced for tribute payment both during the pre-colonial era and the colonial period.
Beyond cotton cloth for garments and tribute, the Spanish also adopted the use of quilted cotton armour in warfare.

In modern days, the tradition of weaving with cotton continues to this day with the modern Maya, especially with backstrap looms. The art of weaving on a backstrap loom dates back to ancient Maya and has been passed down through the many generations of Guatemalan women. It is the process in which they create beautiful vibrant coloured textiles and Huipils. The weaver starts with raw cotton, which they clean, dye, and spin into thread. The thread is made into a warp and placed on the loom where she can then begin weaving. Many times, intricate brocade and embroidery patterns are incorporated into the cloth. The process of weaving has changed very little over time and the techniques used today are virtually the same as they have been for two thousand years.

Bibliography
• Chase, Arlen F., Diane Z. Chase, Elayne Zorn, and Wendy Teeter 2008 “Textiles and the Maya Archaeological Record: Gender, power, and status in Classic Period Caracol, Belize”. Published online in Ancient Mesoamerica, Vol. 19, Issue 2, by Cambridge University Press
• Dienhart, John M. 1986 “The Mayan Hieroglyph for Cotton”. Published in Mexicon, Vol. 8, No. 3
• Hellmuth, Nicholas 2012 “The Continuing Search for Original Mayan Cotton”. Published in Revue Magazine
• Kamp, Kathryn A., John C. Whittaker, Rafael Guerra, Kimberly McLean, Peter Brands, and Jose V. Guerra Awe 2006 “A Ritual Spindle Whorl Deposit from the Late Classic Maya Site of El Pilar, Belize”. Published in the Journal of Field Archaeology by Taylor & Francis
• Nielsen, Jesper 2017 “The World on a Whorl: Considerations on Aztec Spindle Whorl Iconography”. Chapter in the PreColumbian Textile Conference VII / Jornadas de Textiles PreColombinos VII, ed. Lena Bjerregaard and Ann Peters (Lincoln, NE: Zea Books, 2017), pp. 132–140. Published online by the University of Nebraska
• Smith, Michael E., Kenneth G. Hirth 1988 “The Development of Prehispanic Cotton-Spinning Technology in Western Morelos, Mexico”. Published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 15, No. 3, by Taylor & Francis. Published online by Arizona State University
• Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 A Catalog of Maya Hieroglyphs. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman, Oklahoma
• Villanueva, Margaret A. 1985 From Calpixqui to Corregidor: Appropriation of Women’s Cotton Textile Production in Early Colonial Mexico. Published by Routledge in Technology and European Overseas Enterprise, edited by Michael Adas
• 2011 “Mesoamerican Cultures and Their Histories: Textiles”. Published online by the University of Oregon. (No author cited.)

Picture sources:-
• Pic 1: photo by Claude Renault, from Wikipedia (Cotton)
• Pic 2: photo by David Nance, from Wikipedia (Gossypium)
• Pic 3: illustration from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, from Wikipedia (Cotton)
• Pic 4: photo from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City. Courtesy of the Penn Museum (supplied by the author)
• Pix 5, 6, & 7: photos supplied by the author
• Pic 8: photo courtesy of unearthwomen.com, supplied by the author
• Pic 9: illustration from Eric Thompson (1970) - see above, supplied by the author.

Aztec limerick no. 61 (ode to cotton):-
Oh gosh, what a swizz, that’s ‘sew’ rotten:
A thread ‘weave’ all but forgotten.
Bet nobody knows,
In five colours it grows –
We’re talking, of course, about cotton!