Camila Concepcion Alday

Fiber technologies have been vital to human adaptation, enabling the production of complex objects such as baskets, nets, and slings. Despite their importance, fiber-based materials have often been overlooked in archaeological and anthropological narratives due to preservation challenges. This writing project explores the enduring significance of fiber technologies in South America through archaeological fieldwork, museum collections, and advanced microscopic methods, including paleoethnobotanical research, multiphoton microscopy, and X-ray tomography. Focusing on key plant fibers—such as cotton (Gossypium barbadense), wetland species like Typha and Cyperaceae, and plants from the Apocynaceae and Agavaceae families—the project investigates fibers’ role in shaping social life and human–plant relations. I also integrate material culture theory to analyze fiber-based technologies, engaging with debates on the early emergence of material culture. Drawing on Pre-Columbian case studies from the Pacific coast and a range of ethnographic and material sources, the project offers an interdisciplinary account of fiber knowledge, innovation, and material engagement, culminating in five peer-reviewed articles.