• Footwear and bags are two classes of textile artifacts used by prehistoric peoples of the Mid-South for over 8,000 years

• Beyond their functional aspects, footwear and bags are very personal items that reflect not only individual preferences, but also those that are regionally, culturally and temporally based

• Specimens from Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri, and University Museum, University of Arkansas

Continuity and Change in Prehistoric Footwear and

Bags in the Mid-South

Overall Research Goals:

• chronological ordering of the specimens• placement and interpretation of the artifacts

within their cultural systems• identification of related regional and ecological

adaptations• determination of textile production times and

complexity• evaluation of physical characteristics relating to

the performance and use of the artifacts.

Oldest Dated Footwear from Missouri

Late Archaic Period sandal (ca. 6000 B.C.) made from Eryngium Yuccifolium leaves (Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri)

Replication of fibrous footwear

Three replications of a Woodland Period shoe (left, ca. A.D. 700) in Eryngium Yuccifolium, raffia, and nylon cord by Gail DeHart, graduate student

Replication of leather footwear

Pattern and replication of undated leather moccasin from Arkansas by Dr. Jenna T. Kuttruff (Gene Waters Collection)

Replication of bags

Two bags recovered from Arkansas replicated in Eryngium Yuccifolium by Dr. Jenna T. Kuttruff (University Museum, University of Arkansas)