Spindle
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Feb 1885
label: Collection Date
content: 1884
name: label: Collector
content: Sgt. John J. McLean
label: Donor Name
content: Sgt. John J. McLean
notes: label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: The Anthropology Conservation Lab condition report for this object by Michele Austin, 12-24-2008, describes it as a spindle constructed from a shaft of wood with a bone whorl. The whorl is seated in place with a small piece of woven cloth acting as a wedge. The condition report identifies this as a spindle for making yarn. It notes that the original cataloguing identified the object as a "fire stick", and that a type of spindle was used to start fires in Tlingit culture, but the spindle fire sticks or starters described by Emmons do not match the description of this spindle (Emmons, George T. 1991. The Tlingit Indians. Seattle: University of Washington Press: 158-159). Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=615 , retrieved 1-13-2012: Drop spindle, Tlingit Drop-spindles with stone weights were used to twist mountain goat wool into yarn for the weft (cross strands) of woven blankets. The spinner attached a starter-piece of yarn to the wooden shaft, let the tool dangle in the air, and then spun the circular stone weight. She kept the spindle turning as she gradually added new fibers into the yarn, skillfully drawing out a twisted strand of the length she needed.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Baranof Island / Sitka, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tlingit
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 015716
label: USNM Number
content: E74950-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Spindle
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 53.4 cm
label: Diameter - Object
content: 7.1 cm