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    Journal of California and Great Basin

    Anthropology

    UC Merced

    Peer Reviewed

    Title:

    How Warm Were They? Thermal Properties of Rabbit Skin Robes and Blankets

    Journal Issue:

    Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, 25(1)

    Author:

    Yoder, DavidBlood, JonMason, Reid

    Publication Date:2005

    Publication Info:

    Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, UC Merced Library, UC Merced

    Permalink:

    http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jk440gg

    Keywords:

    ethnography, ethnohistory, archaeology, prehistory, native peoples, Great Basin

    Local Identifier:

    ucmercedlibrary_jcgba_1921

    Abstract:

    Rabbit skin robes and blankets have both considerable time depth and a wide geographicdistribution throughout western North American. Primary and secondary accounts of rabbit skinrobes and blankets suggest that these items are very warm. But compared to modern materials,how warm could rabbit skin robes actually have been? To determine a standardized intrinsicwarmth value of rabbit skin robes we perform two tests. In the first we compare the relativetemperature loss between a rabbit skin robe reproduction and four modern articles of clothingand bedding. In the second we establish the thermal conductivity (k-value)for the rabbit skin robereproduction, which allows us to make a standardized comparison between the rabbit skin andother materials. We find that the rabbit skin robes outperform most modem materials in basic heatretention but that this may be offset by benefits in modem items such as weight and versatility.

    http://escholarship.org/http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jk440gghttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Mason%2C%20Reidhttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Blood%2C%20Jonhttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Yoder%2C%20Davidhttp://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jk440gghttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Mason%2C%20Reidhttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Blood%2C%20Jonhttp://escholarship.org/uc/search?creator=Yoder%2C%20Davidhttp://escholarship.org/uc/ucmercedlibrary_jcgba?volume=25;issue=1http://escholarship.org/uc/ucmhttp://escholarship.org/uc/ucmercedlibrary_jcgbahttp://escholarship.org/uc/ucmercedlibrary_jcgbahttp://escholarship.org/uc/ucmercedlibrary_jcgbahttp://escholarship.org/http://escholarship.org/http://escholarship.org/http://escholarship.org/
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    Journal of California and Great Basin AnthropologyVol. 25, No. 1, pp. 55-68 (2005).How WarmWere They?Thermal Properties of Rabbit Skin Robes and BlanketsDAVID YODER, 1035E 150N Prove, Utah 84606J O N B L O O D , 766E 750N #6 Piovo, Utah 84606REID M A S O N , 860E 2503N Prove, Utah 84606

    Rabbit skin robes and blankets have both considerable time depth and a wide geographic distributionthroughout western North American. Primary and secondary accounts of rabbit skin robes andblankets suggest that these items are very warm. But compared to modem materials, how warmcould rabbit skin robes actually h ave been? To determine a standardized intrinsic warmth valueof rabbit skin robes we perform two tests. In the first we com pare the relative temp erature lossbetween a rabbit skin robe reproduction and four modern articles of clothing and bedding. In thesecond we establish the thermal conductivity (k-value)for the rabbit skin robe reproduction, whichallows us to make a standardized comparison between the rabbit skin and other materials. We findthat the rabbit skin robes outperform most modem materials in basic heat retention but that thismay be offset by benefits in modem items such as weight a nd versatility.

    J^abbit skin robes and blankets are ubiquitous itemsJ \ of raaterial culture in westem North America. Theyhave both considerable time depth and a wide geog raphicdistribution (Hedg es 1973). They are one of the itemsof raaterial culture that remained constant from theArchaic period up into the historic period. Manyexplorers, pionee rs, and ethnographers saw these robesand blankets both being raanufactured and in daily use(Fig. 1). W hen rabbit skin robes and blankets areraentione d in the literature, a coraraen t that is often mad eis that the items are very warm . These references towarmth are seen early in the literature of primaryaccounts but have been carried over into the secondaryliterature. How ard Egan, a pioneer and explorer of thewest, regularly encountered groups of Shoshone. Duringone such encounter, he observed Shoshone womenmaking rabbit skin robes, and later wrote in his diary,"When hung around the neck the person so clothed canstand in a hard rain or snow storm and not one drop ofwet will pass through the robe. They are wind and rainproof and almost cold proof (Egan 1917:238). RobertLowie, in h is 1924 ethnography of the NorthernShoshone, wrote that "they made a very warm robe outof rabbit sk ins" (Low ie 1924:216). The idea that rabbit

    skin robes are very warra has been carried over into theraodem literature, as shown by comraents made byrespected researchers such as Kate Kent when she w rotethat "warm (fur) blankets were raade by the Anasazi,MogoUon, and Hohoka ra" and "soft, warra weft-twinedblanke ts of fur or feather cord are found in such q uantityin Anasazi and MogoUon sites and in Ventana Cave asto suggest that every raeraber of the group, regardlessof sex or age, owned one to wear on chilly day s, to sleepin at night, and to be interred in after death" (Kent1983:43, 112).Firsthand accoun ts of the warrath of rabbit skin robesand blankets invariably com e from the 1800s and early1900s. The materials that are used to keep people w armobviously have greatly changed since then. Adva ncesin technology have allowed humans to manufacturematerials that can keep thera alive in such extremeenvirons as the top of Mt. Everest to the depths ofAntarctica. A question that begs to be answered is this:compared to raodem raaterials, how warm could rabbitskin robes actually have been? Is there a standardizedintrinsic warmth value that can be given to rabbit skinrobes? This paper answers this question in two ways.First, we com pare the relative temperature loss betw een

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    56 J O U R N A L O F C A L I F O R N I A A N D G R E A T B A S I N A N T H R O P O L O G Y

    Figure 1. Mojave man wearing a rabbit skin blanket(from James 1914:Figure 3).

    a rabbit skin robe reproduction and four mod em articlesof clothing and bedd ing. Second, we establish thethermal conductivity (k-value) for the rabbit skin robereproduction, which allows us to make a standardizedcom parison betw een the rabbit skin and other ma terials.We are thus able to establish a relatively standardizedbaseline of rabbit skin robe and blanket warmth incoraparison w ith modem materials, thus answering thequestion "How warm were they?"

    GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONAND TIME DEPTH

    Rabbit skin robes are found both archaeologicallyand etbnographical ly throughout the Great Basin ,Southwest, and Califomia. As Wissler (1922:57) noted,"Very widely spread is the weaving of blankets fromtwisted strips of rabbit fur, a method which has acontinuous distribution from Yucatan northward in

    Mexico and thence over the great plateau area of theUnited States to Canada."Within the Great Basin, archaeological examplescome frora such places as Gypsum and Lovelock cavesin Ne vada (Har r ing ton 1933 :156 -15 7 ; Jenn ings1 9 6 4 : 1 5 3 - 1 6 1 ; Gro sscup 1960 :5 2 -53 ; Loud andHa rr ington 1929:50 -53) . W ith in the Southw est ,examples include those from Tularosa and Cordova cavesin New Mexico (Martin et al. 1952:211-212), and theWhiteDog, Ventana, and the Basketmaker caves inArizona (Guernsey and Kidder 1921:54, 74-75; Haury1950:395-396, 430-432; Morris 1980:111), araongothers (Guemsey 1931:65, 75, 92-93, Plate 54a; Kent1983 :24 -25 , 43 , 112 -118 , 221 , 225 ; Kidder andGuemsey 1919:156, 174-175).

    Ethnographic accounts include reports frora theGreat Basin (Egan 1917:237-238; Low ie 1924:216-217,228; Steward 1938:45, 227; 1939:17, Plates 2b, 7, 12,13) , the Southwest (Col ton 1938:12-13; Stephen1936:273-74), and the Califomia area (Dm cker 1937:21;Gifford 1931:33; Sirapson 1961:34; and Spier 1923:346-347).

    No t only is the geogra phic distribu tion of rabbit skinrobes extensive, so is their time depth. Hed ges (1973:6)provides an excellent summary of both the geographicand temporal span of rabbit skin robes, and concludes,"These examples and numerous others in the literatureshow that fur cord age blan kets, including those made ofrabbit skin, have been in continuous use in w estem NorthAm erica for the last ten thousand y ears." Rabbit skinrobes are one of the few artifact types that began beingmanufactured as early as the beginning of the Archaicand continued through tirae into the historic period.

    CONSTRUCTION

    The bas i c cons t ruc t ion t echn iques u sed inraanufacturing rabbit skin robes were essentially thesarae throughout westem North America, although theparticulars could vary. The m ain element used in makingrabbit skin robes and blankets was fur yam or cordage.To create a fur co rd, raw rabb it skin was cut into narrowstrips 3 to 7 mm. wide, which were then coiled orwrapped around fiber cordage (Kent 1983:25; see Fig.2). As the rabbit skin dried, it shrank and tightened,binding it firmly around the fiber cordage. This fur cord,sometimes called a fur rope, was usually used as thewarp of the robe or blanket, with fiber cordage acting as

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    H O W W A R M WERE T H E Y ? 57the weft. Kent (1983:113) notes that two stmcturaldetails of rabbit skin robes and blankets seem to remainconstant, namely that "warps a re established by windingone continuous fur or feathercord back and forth witheach successive tum resting parallel to the precedingone, and are held close toge ther in this position by p airedfiber yam wefts twined through thera at intervals of 1"to 12 " (2.5 cm. to 30.5 cm.)." A lthough twining w as themost conunon technique employed, plain weave, weft-wrapping, and loop coiling were also used in parts ofwestem North Araerica (Hedges 1973:5-6, Plate 6). Inethnographic and historic exaraples, sorae type of framewas usually employed in the construction process(Dmcker 1937:21; Egan 1917:237-238; Gifford 1931:33;Lowie 1924 :228 ; Sp ie r 1923 :346 -347 ; S tephen1936:273-274). Kent (1983:113-114, Fig. 56 E) gives agood description of the common ethnographic frametypes, which have the following primary c haracteristics:(1) the frame is rectangular or square; (2) the frame canbe either horizontal or vertical to the ground surface;and (3) the rabbit skin yam or cordage is usually thewarp element, which typically attached to both the topand the bottom of the frarae, although in one type ofvertical frame the warp is left unattached at the bottom.Guem sey and Kidder described a Basketm aker II rabbitskin blanket that could be seen as a typical examp le ofrabbit skin robes and blankets in westem North Am erica:

    The comraonest method was to wrap a yuccacord with narrow strips of the hide of smallanimals applied raw and with the fur on .... T he

    Figure 2. Construction technique for rabbit skin cord(from Hedges 1973:Plate 4).

    Strips were ap plied spirally, the end of one p ieceholding down the beginning of the next. Thetight wrapping of the hide caused the hair tostand out in all directions, thus giving thefinished string the appearance of a greatlymagnified pipe-cleaner....The weaving process was very simple; theprepared string was wound about some sort offrame, or perhaps around a pair of long pegsdriven in the ground. The w inding was done insuch a way as to lay each suc ceeding tum of thestring parallel to and close against the p recedingone. When the desired size was reached, thestrings were fastened together by twined rowsof yucca cord; finally, the frame was reraoved[1921:74-75].Once the rabbit skin item was completed, it couldbe used as a blanket for bedding or could be wom as arobe. The robes were wom around the shoulders andwere usually tied in place with cordage from the weft,which was extended beyond the borders of the robe.Rabbit skin robes and blankets were of variable sizes

    throughout western North Araerica, as they wereraanufactured for infants, children, and adults. Optima lsize also varied for differing Native American groups.The Halchidhoraa and Maricopa of the Southwestapparently preferred a sraaller robe that hung frora theshoulders to the waist (Kent 1983:112-113), while thePaiute of the Great Basin seeraed to favor a larger robethat could hang frora the shoulders to below the knees(like the type seen in Figure 3).The rabbit skin robe used in the experiraentsdescribed in this paper is a reproduction belonging toFreraont Indian State Park in Sevier , Utah(Fig. 4).

    The robe is 12 to 13 years old and was raanufacturedby Co rrine Springer, a rauseum volunteer. It wa sproduced on the vertical frame shown in Figure 5. Theconstmction technique differed slightly from that usedfor most other exaraples in westem North Araerica, inthat the warp was fiber cordage and the weft fur cord.In raost exaraples this situation was reversed, with thewarp being fur cord and the weft being fiber cordage.To the best of our knowledge, this warp/weft reversaldoes not affect the functional aspe cts of the reproduction ,which was raade by using a plain weave constmction

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    58 J O U R N A L O F C A L I F O R N I A A N D G R E A T BASIN A N T H R O P O L O G Y

    Figure 3. Paviotso Paiute woma n, Stillwater Nevada (1924).(National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, #9673)

    Style with the fur cord wefts m nning over one warp andunder one warp. The warps are three-ply z-spun S-twist(z-S) cordage ; the wefts app ear to be made of the sametype of cordage, which was then wrapped with strips ofrabbit skin. The reproduction is rectangular in shape;and is approximately 95 cm. long, 80 cm. wide, and 4cm. thick.

    METHODSTwo separate exper iments were performed to

    determine the thermal properties of the rabbit skin robereproduction. Test A was designed to determine therelative warrath of the rabbit skin robe in comparison tomodem clothing or sleeping items, while Test B wasdesigned to determ ine the thermal conductivity (k-value)of the robe, and discover the intrinsic thermal value ofthe material. Figure 4. Rabbit skin robe reproduction fromFremont Indian State Park in Sevier, Utah.

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    H O W W A R M WERE T H E Y ? 59In Test A, two -liter plastic water bladders were filled

    with warm water (34C-41 C) and then had electronicthermom eters attached to their surface. A water bladderwith at tached thermoraeter was placed inside thespecimen being tested; the specimen w as then transferredinto a walk-in freezer, which was raaintained at a steadytemperature between -5 C to -10 C, and was placedon a table. Mea surements w ere taken at ten-rainuteintervals for 140 rainutes, in order to record theteraperature loss of the water bladders. Specimens w eretested within the freezer two at a tirae, and were m atchedin the following way: rabbit skin robe reproduction anddown coat; wool blanket and sleeping bag; and asynthet ic coat , which was tes ted by itself. Theconstmction of the rabbit skin robe reproduction isdiscussed above. The down coat was an "Overcast,Down" model with an outer shell and inner lining of100 percent nylon and a filler of FTC 80/20 goose dow n;it had an approximate thickness of 4 cm. The woolblanket was constructed of 85 percent wool and 15

    percent cotton, and had an approximate thickness of 2.2era. The sleeping bag was a "Sierra Designs, MidnightDelight" raodel constmcted frora a 100 percent polyesterfiber known as Polarguard 3D; it had an approxiraatethickness of 6 era. The synthetic coat was a "ColurabiaTitaniura, Ice Dragon Parka" raodel constructed withan outer shell of 100 percent nylon, an inner lining of50 percent nylon and 50 percent polyester, and a zip-infleece liner of 95 percent polyester and 5 percentspandex; it had a total thickness of approxiraately 0.3cm. Because the temperatures of the water bladdersvaried slightly at the outset of each test, the tem perature swere standardized for easy coraparison. This was doneby converting the temperature of each water bladder intoa percentag e. Each degree of teraperature that wa slost for a given water bladder was also converted to apercentage and then subtracted frora the original.

    Test B was designed to determine the thermalconduct iv i ty k (W/ra*K) of the rabbit skin robereproduction. Thermal conductivity is an intrinsic value

    Figure 5. Vertical frame on which the rabb it skin robe reproduction wa s woven, located at FremontIndian State Park in Sevier, Utah. Note the fiber cordage warps and the fur cord wefts.

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    60 J O U R N A L O F C A L I F O R N I A A N D G R E A T BASIN A N T H R O P O L O G Yof all materials, and is a measure of the rate of heat flowthrough a g iven amount of mater ia l for a g iventempe rature difference. The param eter which expressesthe intrinsic insulative value of the rabbit skin robe orother materials, independent of the geometry, is thethermal conductivity k. A low k corresponds to a lowrate of heat transfer through the material. Coup ling thiswith the thickness L (m) of the material allows us todetermine the rate of heat conduction through thematerial per unit area, or heat flux q" (W/ra^), accordingto the erapirical formula known as Fourier's law:

    (1) -k d ldx(2) with q"=-^

    Here T (K) is the tempe rature distribution in the directionX of the thickness of the raaterial and A (ra^) is the surfacearea over which the teraperature gradien t ex is ts .Allowing the raaterial to reach steady state makes thederivative collapse to a simple difference, and uponcorabining with (2), (1) reduces to:

    (3)^Tq=-kA21

    piece of insulation also had a circular hole (16 cm.) cutout of the center, exactly over the area where the hotplatesurface w as located. A steel gallon can (316 g) wasplaced in the circular hole in the insulation and filledwith 751 ml of water at approximately I C. A cardboardbox with a circular hole in the bottom was placed overthe steel can and slid down so that it sat flush with thesecond piece of insulation. The steel can (which wasnow within the box) was surrounded by insulation andthe box was closed. This was done to minimize errordue to heat transfer to the can from its surroundings. Asmall hole was placed in the lid of the cardboard boxand steel can so that a thermometer could be placedthrough these and into the water. The h otplate was turnedon and monitored w ith a thermo couple to m ake sure thetemperature stayed at a constant 53 C. The tem peraturechange of the water inside the steel can was measuredevery two to three rainutes for ^proximately one hour.Measuring the increase in temperature of the waterwithin the steel can allowed us to determine the rate atwhich heat was entering the can, using the followingformula:

    (4) q = C,ATwAt

    where AT is the difference in temperature through thematerial. Strictly speaking, the experiraents were notconducted at steady state. However, the tirae rates ofteraperature change (several degrees per hour) weresraall enough that equation (3) could be used to analyzethe heat flow through the rabbit skin robe and otherraaterial.

    In order for (3) to be useful, we m ust determine theheat flux q" through the material. To accoraplish this.Test B was designed in the following raanner (Fig. 6and 7).

    A rectangu lar piece of insulation had a circular hole(16 era. in diaraeter) cut out of the center so that it couldbe placed over a hot plate and would sit flush with thesurface. The rabbit skin robe was laid on top of theinsulation and hotplate, so that only a 0.02 m^ circulararea came in contact with the hotplate surface. Anotherpiece of insulation of the same dimensions as the firstwas placed on top of the rabbit skin robe . This se cond

    Here, C is the total therm al m ass of the water (J/K) andsteel can and AT^ is the change in teraperature of thewater a nd the steel can over a tirae interval At (sec).

    The can was filled with 751 ml. of water close tofreezing, while the hotplate w as set to a temperature of53 C. The large temp erature difference betw een the canand the hotplate allowed us to approxim ate the differencein temp erature through the material (ATJ to be constantwith a sm all change in the tempe rature of the water andcan over time, AT^ (less than 5 C ).

    Insulation and a stirring rod were used to reduceerror from heat transfer in the can and heat transfer tothe can from the atmosph ere. How ever, despite thesemeasures, heat did enter the steel can through thesurrounding atmosph ere, as was expected. To correctfor this, an experimental mn was made without a hotplateto "calibrate" the experiraental data collected on othermns. This calibration was used to determine the rate ofheat entering the can due to the environment. This heat

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    HO W W A R M WERE T H E Y ? 6 1

    Figure 6. Experimental set up for Test B.

    rate was simply sub tracted from the heat rate found whileusing the hotplate. The new he at rate was then used todetermine the thermal conductivity by dividing thetemperature difference and the area over which the heatwas transferred through the robe. This number w as thenraultipUed by the thickness of the robe to produce thetherraal conductivity as shown in equation (3).Data collection for each test involved measuringthe temperature of the water in the can over asufficient tirae interval to deterraine the heat rate, theteraperature at which the hotplate was raaintained, thethickness of the test raaterial, the araount of tirae overwhich the experiraent was run, the amount of waterin the can, the mass of the can itself, and the surfacearea betw een the hot plate and the can. The heatcapacity of the steel can was estiraated to be that ofcarbon steel.

    DATATest A was designed to deterraine the relative w arrathof the rabbit skin robe in coraparison to raodem clothingor sleeping items. This was done by measuring thearaount of teraperature loss over t i rae for the

    experiraental items. During the 140-minute testingperiod, the water bladder within the rabbit skin roberetained 89 percent of its heat (5 C loss), the waterbladder within the sleeping bag retained 87 percent ofits heat (6 C loss), the water bladder within the downcoat retained 80 percent of its heat (9 C loss), the waterbladder w ithin the synthetic coat retained 78 percen t ofits heat (10 C loss), and the water bladder within thewool blanket retained 71 percent of its heat (14 C loss).Figure 8 shows the standardized data representedgraphically.

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    62 JOURNAL OF CALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY

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    HO W W A R M WERE THEYl 63In Test B, the experiraental run for the rabbit skin

    robe reproduction gave a teraperature increase of 4.1 Cover approximately o ne hour, wh ile the experim ental ranfor the wool blanket gave a teraperature increase of 2.9C over approxim ately 15 minute s (Fig. 9). Aftercorrecting frora the calibration mn , which used 902 m lof water giving a heat rate of 3.01W, the rabbit skinrobe had a heat rate of 0.78W and the wool blanket aheat rate of 10.14W. Solving for the therraal conductivityusing equations (3) and (4) gives 0.031W/ra*K for therabbit skin and 0.035W/ra*K for the wool blanket.

    DISCUSSIONThe results of both tests are rather straightforward.

    In Test A, which was designed to show the relativewarrath of the iteras being tested, the rabbit skin robereproduction and the sleeping bag outperformed all otheritems in heat retention. Over the 140-minute testingperiod, the rabbit skin robe lost only 11 percent of thetotal heat from its water bladder, followed closely bythe sleeping ba g, which lost only 13 percent of the totalheat from its bladder. Both iteras lost heat at a fairlyconstant rate of ^proxiraately 1 C every 20-30 rainutes.The two coats that w ere tested carae in third and fourthin heat retention. They fared roughly the sarae, with thedown coat losing 20 percent of the total heat frora itswater bladder, and the synthetic coat losing 22 percentof the total heat frora its bladder. Th e rate of heat losswas similar between the two coats, with both losingapproximately 1 C every 10-20 rainutes. Finally, thewool blanket carae in last, losing 29 percent of the totalheat from its water bladder at an almost constant rate of1 C every 10 minutes (Table 1).

    Although these results seem straightforward, it mustbe reraerabered that the iteras tested have considerablydifferent thicknesse s and we ight. Th e rabbit skin robereproduction and the sleeping bag were the warraestitems relative to the others, but they were also two ofthe thicker items tested, and the rabbit skin robe w eighedranch raore than any other article of clothing or bedding .Another factor to consider is the cut and overall fit ofthe tested iteras. The rabbit skin robe is a very basictype of covering which does not conforra well to thebody. When wom by an active individual (soraeone inmotion), cold air would certainly be able to flow intothe robe from the open bottom and frora closures in thefront. Although the m odern coa ts did not score as well

    in Test A, they conform much better to the body both atrest and in motion. They elimin ate raost cold airflowby raeans of elastic and various ties, pull strings, andother attachments. In sum, the rabbit skin robe retainsheat better than the other iteras tested, but this might beoffset by other benefits in the mode m items, which arelightweight and form-fitting in com parison.

    Convective currents carry heat away much raoreefficiently than still air, thus destroying the insulativevalue of a raateria l. Insulation, both raode m and an cient,eraploys sraall fibers to hold air still so that convectivecurrents are not generated. In practical terms, the low estk value a low-cost insulating m aterial can achieve is thek value of air. Base d on Test B , the rabbit skin robe issignificantly less conductive than wool, and hasconductivity values close to those of air (0.026 W/ra*K).By this evaluation, rabbit skin robes are very warra.How ever, raore sensitive testing w ould have to be carriedout to determine the actual therraal conductivity raoreprecisely. More sensitive testing could be accoraplishedby better isolating the test frora the enviroimient; it wouldrequire cutting the rabbit skin robe to obtain a sraallsaraple of the raaterial. Since the preservation of the robewas iraportant, such testing was not feasible for thisexperiraent.

    The raajority of the heat gain in Test B carae frorathe atraosphere, through the insulated box. This couldhave resulted in a large error in the raeasured therraalconductivity. Despite the poor insulation of the box,the raeasured therraal conductivity of the wool fell inthe range of reported values (0.03-0.04W/ra*K). Thissuggests that fairly accura te values could still be obtainedafter correcting for arabient heat gain.

    C O N C L U S I O NBecause ethnographic accounts of rabbit skin robes

    and blankets state that these items were very warm, raode manthropologists have siraply assumed that these statementswe re tm e without further investigation. In addition,common sense would suggest that because of advances infiber and material technology, mode m apparel and beddingwould be much warraer than their prehistoric coimterparts.This paper has tested these ideas by establishing both arelative and a standard baseline for the warmth of rabbitskin robes, and has found that they are, in fact, very warmitems of clothing and bedding that outperform the ir mode mcounterparts in basic heat retention. Deterraining the

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    64 JOURNAL OFCALIFORNIA AND GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGY

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    HOW WARM WERE THEYl 65

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    o o o o o o i ^ t ^ t ^ v c ^ m ' r i ' ^ T t r ' ^ r o r )m m r o m m f n m ( ^ m f * ^ m m f n ( ^ f n

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    l n > / ^ l O T t ^ T J r < - l m t N ( N ( N ' ' O Om m m m m m m m m m f o m m m m

    o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o ' 7 : ' M T ! ' * f ! ? ! ' 7 : 9 1 T ! ? : f ! ? ! ' 7 : ' M

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    H O W W A R M WERE T H E Y ? 6 7thermal properties of rabbit skin robes and blankets givesanthropologists a better understanding of Native Americanmaterial culture, and answers the question, "How warmwere they?"

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank Dee Hardy and Fremont Indian State Parkfor graciously allowing us to use the rabbit skin robereproduction in our experim ents. Thank s also to BY U

    Vending Services for the use of their extremely coldfreezer! Finally, Joel Janetski, Dean Wheeler, andVincent Wilding wer e very helpful with their suggestionsand comments.

    REFERENCESColton, Mary-Russell F.1938 The Arts and Crafts of the Hopi Indians.Museum of Northern Arizona, MuseumNo tes 11(1): 1-30. Flagstaff.Dmcker, Philip1937 Culture Elem ent Distributions: V, SouthernCal i fo rn ia . An th ropo log ica l Reco rdsl(l):i-iii; 1-52. Berkeley.Egan, Howard R.1917 Pioneering the West 1846 to 1878: Major

    Howard Egan's Diary. Howard R. EganEstate: Richmond, Utah.Gifford, E. W.1931 The Kamia of Imperial Valley. Bureau ofAmer ican E thno logy Bu l l e t in 97 ,Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office.Grosscup, Gordon L.

    1960 The Culture History of Lovelock Cave,Nevada. Reports of the Universi ty ofCalifornia Archaeological Survey, 52.Berkeley.

    Guemsey, Samuel J.1931 Explora tions in Northe astern Arizona :Report on the Archaeological Fieldwork of

    1 9 2 0 - 1 9 2 3 . Papers o f t he PeabodyMuseum of American Archaeology andEthnology 12-(1). Ca mb ridge: HarvardUniversity Press

    Guernsey, Sam uel J. and Alfred Vincent Kidder1921 Bask et -Ma ker Caves of No rtheasternArizona. Papers of the Peabody Museumof American Archaeology and Ethnology8(2). Cambridge: Harvard Univers i tyPress.

    Harrington, Mark R.1933 Gypsum Cave , Neva da . Sou thwe s tMuseum Papers 8. Los Angeles: Southwest

    Museum.Haury, Emil W., Kirk Bryan, Edwin H. Colbert, Norm anE. Gabel, Clara Lee Tanner, and T F. Buehrer1950 The Strat igraph y and Arc haeo logy ofVentana Cava, Arizona. Albuquerque:University of New Mexico Press.Hedges, Ken1973 A Rabbit Skin Blanket From San Diego

    County. San Diego Museum of Man EthnicTechnology Notes 10. San Diego: SanDiego Museum of Man.

    James, George Wharton1914 Indian Bla nke ts and The i r M ak ers .Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co .Jennings, Jessie D .1964 The Desert West. In: Prehistoric Ma n inthe New World. J. D. Jennings and E.Norbec k , eds . pp . 149 -174 . C h icago :University of Chicago Press.Kent, Kate Peck

    1983 Prehistoric Textiles of the Southw est. San taFe: School of American Research.

    Kidder, Alfred V, and Samuel J. Guemsey1919 Arc haeo log ica l Exp lo ra t ions inNortheastern Arizona. B ureau of Am ericanEthnology Bulletin 65. Washington D.C.:Government Printing Office.

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    68 JOURN AL OF CALIFORNIA A N D GREAT BASIN ANTHROPOLOGYLoud, Llewellyn L., and Mark R. H arrington

    1929 Lovelock Ca ve. University of CaliforniaPublications in Am erican Archaeology AndEthnology 25(l): i-vii i ; l -183. Berkeley.

    Lowie, Robert H.1924 No tes on Shos hone E thnograp hy .Anthropological Papers of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History 20(3): 185-314.New Y ork.

    M artin, Paul S., John B . Rinaldo, Elaine A. Bluhm, HughCutler, and Roger Grange, Jr.1952 MogoUon Cultural Continuity and Change:The Stratigraphic Ana lysis of Tularosa and

    Cordova Caves. Fieldiana: Anthropology40:1-528.

    1939 Notes on K illers' Photographs of the Paiuteand Ute Indians Taken on the PowellExped i t ion o f 1873 . Smi th son ianM i s c e l l a n e o u s C o l l e c t i o n s 9 8 ( 1 8 ) .Washington.Wissler, Clark1922 The Am erican Indian. New York: O xfordUniversity Press.

    Morris, Elizabeth Ann1980 Bask etmak er Caves in the Prayer RockD i s t r i c t , N o r t h e a s t e r n A r i z o n a .Anthropological Papers of the Universityof Arizo na 35. Tucson: Universi ty ofArizona Press.Simpson, Lesley Byrd, tr. and ed.

    1961 Journal of Jose Long inos M artinez. SanFrancisco: John Howell-Books.Spier, Leslie1923 Southern Diegueiio Custom s. University ofCal i fo rn ia Pub l i ca t ions in Amer icanArchaeology and Ethnology 20(16):297-

    358. Berkeley.Stephen, Alexander M .

    1936 Hopi Journ al, ed. Elsie Clews Pars ons,Columbia Univers i ty Contr ibut ions toAn thropology, Vol. 23 , parts 1 and 2. NewYork.Steward, Julian H .

    1938 Basin-P lateau Abo riginal SociopoliticalGroups. Bureau of American EthnologyBulletin 120. W ashington. (Reprinted: SaltLake City: University of Utah Press, 1970)