Friday, October 16, 2026

Did basketry begin millions of years ago?

 

Did basket making begin millions of years ago?
Rick Doble is the first to explicitly propose this.


To my readers:
I have relied heavily on Google AI (always referenced with quotation marks) for this article to back up my ideas, but please see my original articles on this blog, DeconstructingTime, listed at the end for much more in-depth and referenced research.

GOOGLE AI
WHO IS THE FIRST PERSON TO SUGGEST THAT BASKET-MAKING IS MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD
"Rick Doble is the writer and researcher who explicitly proposed that rudimentary basket making and woven-fiber technology could be millions of years old (dating back roughly 2 million years to early hominins like Homo habilis)."
I believe I am the first researcher to suggest that the beginnings of complex human-made basketry began as much as 2.5 million years ago. The reason I picked 2.5 millions years is because that is the time period of the fossil evidence at Oldowan Gorge in Africa where weaverbird remains and evidence of homo habilis were found in the same layers.

This has not been considered until now for two reasons:
>>> There was no physical evidence -- since plant material decays  quickly and does not leave a trace
>>> Researchers did not think that basketry was an important skill and craft and therefore did not understand the necessary development of manual dexterity and fine motor skills along with the many cognitive skills of conceiving of a design and then creating it in fiber. So for the last hundred years it has been generally assumed that basketry began about 10,000 years ago in the Neolithic Era.

However, all this changed around 1995. Dr. Olga Soffer and Dr. James Adovasio confirmed evidence, with distinct impressions in clay, that sophisticated weaving and basketry had been accomplished in the Upper Paleolithic about 27,000 years ago and not the Neolithic era. This did more than move the timeline of the development of weaving and basketry; it opened the door to considering a very different timeline, i.e., that basket making might have begun even earlier, a lot earlier.

The nagging problem, of course, the same problem that had dogged theories about basketry all along, was that there was almost no direct or indirect evidence, so there was almost nothing to base a new timeline on. Carl Sagan's phrase "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" means that a lack of proof for something does not automatically mean that the thing does not exist.

However, the clear clay impression evidence that was found pointed to a much earlier development. One set of impressions even suggested the use of a basic loom, which was a major discovery. 

COULD THE CRAFT OF BASKETRY BE MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD?

To find support for my hypothesis that basketry began millions of years ago, I decided that I needed to put together pieces of a puzzle from different disciplines and hopefully create a narrative that made sense.

The intersection of early proto-humans and weaverbirds is one of those remarkable periods in human history. Based on ethnoarchaeology, i.e., contemporary behavior that sheds light on past behavior, the Paleolithic weaverbirds showed proto-humans the versatile technology of basket weaving, and they did it in detail.

WE DO HAVE EVIDENCE IN THE LOWER PALEOLITHIC ERA
Fossil evidence shows that proto-humans lived together in the same time period in the same environment, i.e., baobab trees, and thus were probably well aware of weaverbirds and their nests.

MODERN BEHAVIOR THAT APPEARS TO BE SIMILAR TO PALEOLITHIC BEHAVIOR

THE FOLLOWING IS SPECULATION BASED ON CONTEMPORARY WEAVERBIRD BEHAVIOR; THE FOLLOWING IS CONSISTENT WITH PALEOLITHIC BEHAVIOR AS HYPOTHESIZED 

Just like modern humans today (contemporary hunter-gatherers such as the Hadza), it is assumed that Paleolithic hominins occupied Baobab trees along with weaver birds. So proto-humans would have been familiar with weaverbird nests and how well-made they were. 

Male weaver birds make several nests that a female weaver bird can choose from, so many nests are left over and abandoned. Today modern humans use the many abandoned nests for baskets, so it is likely that proto-humans did also. This suggests that proto-humans could have been well acquainted with their construction, their usefulness, and their durability.

Just like hunter-gatherers today, proto-humans would have been able to observe how nests were made from scratch because the birds often took days to make one. Their slow construction was, in itself, like a tutorial. The nests were built in stages, and each stage provided the basis for the next step. At first, they made a skeleton open structure with just a few hard and stiff spokes; then they wove opposing flexible strands over and under the spokes using carefully selected materials. This slow, methodical construction would have made it possible for early proto-humans to understand how to build their own baskets.

This time period was a time when Homo habilis was starting to walk upright, thus freeing arms to carry stuff and allowing fine manual control, which makes this a key moment in human development. So this is a good moment to highlight for the beginnings of basket weaving.

Also 
GOOGLE AI
"Human Universals, anthropologist Donald Brown lists containers as a fundamental, cross-cultural technological universal found in every known human society."
"Containers are cultural universals because every known human society throughout history has created objects to hold, store, protect, or transport things. While the materials and technologies change across cultures, the fundamental need to contain items remains constant." 
 
This indicates that containers were an essential tool that were used by proto-humans from the earliest times. Woven baskets were, of course, not the only containers, but they were one of the ways that containers were made.

WHAT DOES THIS PROVE?
The above shows that there is substantial circumstantial evidence based on contemporary behavior. Plus fossil remains 2.5 million years ago also showed that early humans were probablyware of weaverbirds because they lived in the same environment at the same time (see link below).. 

None of this proves my hypothesis, but it does make it much more likely. Each behavior, such as close proximity, the ability to use and work with abandoned baskets, and the ability to study the slow process of building a nest, adds weight to my hypothesis.

The circumstantial evidence is so substantial and detailed that I believe this hypothesis deserves to be examined with computer simulations, among other things.

GOOGLE AI
"Yes, a computer model can absolutely be created to measure the survival possibilities of early humans with or without baskets."
 
This could be a perfect graduate student project (or better yet team project) to study the effects of having baskets vs. no baskets for perhaps the initial one million years (from Homo habilis to Homo erectus, for example, i.e., 2.5 million years ago to 1.5 million years ago). This would have to be thoroughly researched and peer-reviewed.


Direct Quotes from Google AI about early basketry
======================================
GOOGLE AI
"Yes, walking upright directly enabled the evolution of the manual dexterity required for complex, versatile tasks like weaving baskets."
"Weaverbirds and humans frequently inhabit and utilize the exact same baobab trees across Africa."
"Studies on African landscapes note that weaverbirds often prefer nesting in trees where human activity is present, leading to a long history of close spatial overlap."
"Early humans could learn the principles of structural weaving, basketry, and architectural design by observing the intricate, interlocking construction of weaverbird nests."
Even today builders, engineers and architects use ideas and designs from weaverbirds.
Today "The process of interlacing long stalks of grass and reeds to achieve structurally sound, water-resistant, and insulated shelters draws directly on the same basic structural principles executed by the weaverbird."
"Modern African Architecture and Biomimicry:
"The link between weaverbirds and human architecture has transitioned seamlessly into contemporary biomimicry across Africa. Modern architects frequently turn to the weaverbird to solve complex thermodynamic and structural challenges:"
==========================

SOME OF MY IN-DEPTH BLOG-ARTICLES ABOUT THIS HYPOTHESIS

Paleolithic Evidence for an Early Weaving Technology
Paleolithic Evidence Shows
That Homo Habilis 
Could Have Learned Weaving
From Weaverbirds (Ploceidae)
https://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com/2019/10/paleolithic-evidence-for-early-weaving_27.html

Homo Habilis Learned Basket Making from Weaverbirds
Evidence That Paleolithic Hominins
Lived in Close Association
With Weaverbirds
and Their Basket Making Skills
https://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com/2020/04/oldowan-weaverbirds-homo-habilis-basket-making.html

Rename the Stone Age as the Stone and Basket Age
 Should "The Stone Age" Be Called
"The Stone and Basket Age?"
 A complete theory about the million(s?) year evolution
of basket weaving and woven-fiber technology
that was crucial for the development of civilization.
https://deconstructingtime.blogspot.com/2023/05/rename-stone-age-as-stone-and-basket-age.html





Detail of above.



Example of Weaverbird knots.
"The Weaving of the Red-Billed Weaver Bird in Captivity."
(Friedmann, 363)
Friedmann, Herbert. "The Weaving of the Red-Billed Weaver Bird in Captivity." Zoologica:. Scientific Contribution of the New York Zoological Society, Volume II, Number 16. The Society, The Zoological Park,, New York, 1922.


Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Reed Culture and the Rise of Civilization

UNDERSTANDING THE RISE OF CIVILIZATION

Reed Culture, Reed Technology, and the Reed industry together created the foundation for the establishment and growth of Mesopotamian cities. 

I am perhaps the first researcher to tie all three of these together as all three were essential.

Moreover the combination of these three also created a powerful innovative force that allowed the machinery (so to speak) to advance. Reeds were not only practical but had a mythic aspect.

However, for a variety of reasons, the importance of reed crafts have not been given the full consideration that it deserved by modern researchers. This has been overlooked because the development of writing, the rise of brick central cities, large temples, and a central administration were felt to be much more important.

They all were, of course, very important. The huge buildings,  granaries, temples, and central administration defined what a city was. However,  the reed industry was perhaps the 2nd largest industry after agriculture. Port receipts for delivered cargo point in this direction. As I said, reed technology laid the foundation for these cities and needs to be included in any definition of a Mesopotamian city.  

I wrote this article because I realized that the story of these three parts of Mesopotamian cities had not been told. Reeds were absolutely crucial from the beginning and continued to be central. If we want to understand how civilization began and how it took hold in Mesopotamia, we need to have accurate information. We need to see the whole picture.

This article is very short and references early articles that go into much greater detail. Please read them if you are interested
 

Overview

Mesopotamia had access to a virtually endless supply of high-quality wild reeds that grew in the marshes, but at the same time it had very little wood, or stone, or metal. So they learned to make the most of what they had, which included naturally occurring bitumen (asphalt) that could work as a glue or for waterproofing.


The Culture

Working with reeds, and making baskets in particular, had a very practical purpose along with a deeply mythic aspect. Baskets provided a way to create and dredge canals that became the heart of Mesopotamian cities. These canals provided a way to get water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, to create flood control when the rivers overflowed, and to create an intricate highway system for goods and communication. From earliest times, these canals, made with baskets, created and shaped the terrain that Mesopotamia became.

Woven reed items were seen as beginning in mythic time. In one creation story, the god Marduk made land by weaving a mat he placed upon the waters and then adding dirt on top of that to make land. 

In another myth, the principal god Enlil, god of the wind, air, earth, and storms, declared, "The pickax and the basket build cities," And all through Mesopotamian history, in virtually all cities, the ruler of a city performed a basket ritual to consecrate the building of a ziggurat, a principal large sacred monument.  

Early on, this reed culture, inherited from the previous Neolithic cultures, could make a wide range of baskets for dredging canals and carrying grain. A diverse early technology allowed the Mesopotamians to weave reeds in a variety of ways; for example, some baskets were open, and some closed, some soft and others hard. Each weave and construction had a specific purpose, which led to the creation of the vast network of canals. Also agriculture in particular needed a wide variety of reed tools to plant, grow, and harvest. Because baskets had shaped the land that became Mesopotamia, they were held in high regard.


LEFT: Detail of a statue of an Assyrian king performing
the basket-bearing ritual circa 700 BCE.
RIGHT: One of many Foundation figures
showing the king with a basket on his head
that was buried in the construction when a ziggurat was built.

Reed Technology

Before the rise of the central cities, farm towns and villages were in place. The later technology built on the skills of these earlier towns. Large mudhifs, cathedral-like reed buildings made entirely of reeds, were constructed. Large seafaring boats made of reeds plied the waters of the Persian Gulf, intricate canals made with baskets served as virtual highways, and fleets of small reed boats served these rising cities to bring grain and to facilitate communication. Sacks of grain based on fiber weaving skills were used to transport grain. Advanced reed technology was used throughout the Mesopotamian system of grain storage. The importance of grain storage has often been often been overlooked, but effective storage was key to the survival of a city. Insect infestations and mold were a regular problem.

There are over 100 words related to reed work and fabrication that have been identified from the Mesopotamian period. As anthropologists know, a word and a name usually indicate something of importance.


The Reed Industry

When reeds were handled as material it was usually in the form of reed bundles. Several port receipts show that reed bundles were the largest part of a shipment.

One of the mistaken ideas about Mesopotamia is that the cities were at the core of urban development. While beautiful buildings and cities built of brick were central to a city's existence and identity, only about 20%-30% lived in these areas, while another 70%- 80% lived outside in the farms and villages. And it was they who supplied the essential grain and the food for the central cities. In the terminology of today, these outlying towns would be part of an urban complex known today as MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas). In other words, the magnificent central cities were dependent on the farming areas, because they required their grain to survive. These farms, villages, and towns were often built with extensive reed technology.

But it was not only the farms and villages that needed reeds for housing and agriculture, thousands of boats made of reeds were critical; canals continued to be dug and managed and woven sacks delivered grain. Even the bricks for the central cities relied on reeds or similar vegetable matter, as they were mixed in with the clay to bind material together.

At no point did the importance of reed work, reed technology, and the need for reed items disappear or even decline. For example, we know for certain that soldiers used reed boats as they were clearly drawn in the bas relief of a Assyrian military campaign around 700 BC, showing the use of these boats.

Even the advanced development of writing depended on reed technology, as the skill of writing needed reeds. Cuneiform developed gradually with the use of reed pens on clay tablets. The pens that were used to write on a clay cuneiform tablets were reed pens. For example, in Sumerian the word for pen was: gi-dub-ba (literally meaning "reed of the tablet" or "tablet-reed")

DIRECT EVIDENCE FROM MESOPOTAMIA

Continued use of reed boats for thousands of years
BOTTOM: Bas-relief: "The Assyrian military campaign in the marches of southern Iraq. This campaign was conducted against the Chaldeans in 700-699 BCE...Assyrian soldiers captured fled enemies on a reed boat." 
TOP: Drawing made from that same bas-relief. 
(King, Leonard. A History of Babylon. London, Chatto and Windus, 1915, p. 201.) 
This bas-relief shows that thousands of years after the end of the Ubaid Neolithic era, reed boats were being built and used.


Image of reed building.
This image of a reed house on a Sumerian ceremonial trough from the 3rd Millennium shows that these houses were still an important part of the Mesopotamian landscape even as many buildings were being constructed of brick.
(The British Museum, WA 120000, neg. 252077)

The Crucial Importance 
of Basket Weaving Technology
for the World's First Civilizations

MESOPOTAMIAN MISCONCEPTIONS:
Incorrect Assumptions and
Misinterpretations of Sumerian Technology


WHY WAS THIS NOT NOTICED BY EARLIER RESEARCHERS

Researchers were not wrong to focus on the importance of the central cities and temples made of brick, but this point of view was limited. The foundation for the cities came from the reed culture, and this needed to be understood as essential. 

Understanding the reed culture was not something that modern researchers knew how to do. And this was especially true because there was almost no evidence of ancient reed work since reeds decayed and left little trace. 

Furthermore, most saw each type of woven fiber item as separate. So the history of baskets, which were not well respected, and small boats, and woven fiber sealed with bitumen for levees, and small reed huts, and seafaring boats along with huge precise mudhif ceremonial buildings -- all of which were made with reeds -- were each seen as belonging to a different category. And few researchers made the connection that they all involved woven reeds or fibers.

Most were also more familiar with ancient building materials such as stone, metal, and wood that were constructed at right angles so they saw the central Mesopotamian cities made of right-angled bricks as the heart of these new civilizations.

As I have pointed out in a previous blog-article, the greatest barrier to understanding the past may be our preconceptions and an inability to see the world through the eyes of a person living in a certain time period. 
 
====================================

Biases May Be the Main Obstacles
To Our Understanding of the Prehistoric Past


Misconceptions About The Neolithic Era
Incorrect Assumptions And
Modern Biases
Have Prevented A Full Understanding
Of The Neolithic Era
By Rick Doble



Reed and woven-fiber technology at its height.
[TOP] This large reed boat is an artist's conception of a boat docking at a Mesopotamian city around 5000 years ago. While a fanciful painting, it is probably not an inaccurate representation of the highly developed reed technology at that time.
While still in the public domain, the link to this picture is no longer available.
[BOTTOM] Like reed cathedrals, large vaulted mudhifs, as they are called, were made entirely from reeds, including the rope. The largest and best-made ones were used for ceremonial purposes and community gatherings. The interiors often displayed dazzling patterns of light as the light came through the intricate weaving work. 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mudhif_Reception_Hall_(30943793762).jpg




Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, July 23, 2026

DeconstructingTime: Shameless appeal for donations


This is a shameless appeal 
for donations for what may be my last major project :).

I am now 82 years old, and I think I can accomplish one more major work. But I need your help and your donations. I am looking for funding to complete a comprehensive academic book about how we humans evolved from animals who lived in the eternal present to our ability to manage time with a past, present, and future, which has made us the most powerful species on the planet. This is based on my fourteen-year non-profit blog that has over 125 in-depth articles or about 2000 pages. It has registered over half a million page views and also over 1200 followers on an academic site. The book will be free and copyright-free (Creative Commons Copyright) to college students, universities, etc. It will be about 300 pages and fully illustrated. I am hoping to raise at least several thousand dollars. All donors will be listed in the book.

Please read the Google AI summary 
of some of my work at the bottom of this post.


CONTACT/HOW TO DONATE ADDRESSES: 
GO TO:
My PayPal account at

SEND MONEY TO:
Deconstructing Time
rick_doble (AT) yahoo.com


14 Year Blog:
DeconstructingTime

====================================

OVERVIEW
QUOTED FROM GOOGLE AI (7/21/2026)                  
Deconstructing Time is an ongoing academic blog created by author and researcher Rick Doble (M.A., UNC-Chapel Hill). It explores the human experience, consciousness, and perception of time, tracing these developments from the Paleolithic era through to the modern day.

Core Themes Explored

Evolution of Thought: Investigates how early humans, including cavemen, developed foundational concepts of time, memory, and pattern recognition.

Time & Society: Analyzes how the concept of time shifted over history, such as its modern evolution into a tradable commodity.

Human Consciousness: Deconstructs how language and creation myths shaped our intrinsic understanding of time.

Art and Media: Connects temporal concepts to creative works, discussing how photography altered our relationship with moments and how great art uses time as a narrative tool.

Additional Information
Author: Rick Doble (M.A., UNC-Chapel Hill), who has been documenting his theories—collectively referred to as the Human Understanding of Time (HUT)—for over a decade.

Downloads: Many of the long-form essays and entries are neatly compiled and available to view or download as PDF e-books.


-----------------------------------
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW MY RESEARCH IS NOW REACHING A LARGE AUDIENCE

QUOTED FROM GOOGLE AI  (7/14/2026)

" 'Woven-fiber technology' is an interdisciplinary research term coined by author and researcher Rick Doble. It is used to replace the limiting and domestic connotation of "basket weaving", encapsulating the complex, ancient human skills of creating cordage, textiles, and containers.

The concept deconstructs early human innovation into several key areas:

Deep-Time Origins: The framework argues that this technology was invented long before the Neolithic era. Doble posits that hominins (including Homo habilis) may have developed weaving techniques up to two million years ago, potentially inspired by observing weaverbirds.

Cognitive Development: Proponents of this theory argue that weaving with fibers fundamentally shaped early human cognition. Because weaving requires an understanding of right-angle grids, sequencing, and the final product before gathering materials, it acted as a physical, visual representation of time.

Foundation of Early Civilizations: Far from being a simple nomadic craft, woven-fiber techniques provided the bedrock for Sumerian and Egyptian societies. Technologies such as irrigation, reed boat construction, and early housing all relied directly on advanced manipulation of fibers.

A Modern Research Term: The phrase is increasingly utilized in modern research to re-evaluate artifacts and cognitive milestones in human history."


Reed and woven-fiber technology at its height.
[TOP] This large reed boat is an artist's conception of a boat docking at a Mesopotamian city around 5000 years ago. While a fanciful painting, it is probably not an inaccurate representation of the highly developed reed technology at that time.
While still in the public domain, the link to this picture is no longer available.
[BOTTOM] Like reed cathedrals, large vaulted mudhifs, as they are called, were made entirely from reeds, including the rope. The largest and best-made ones were used for ceremonial purposes and community gatherings. The interiors often displayed dazzling patterns of light as the light came through the intricate weaving work. 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mudhif_Reception_Hall_(30943793762).jpg

-----------------------------------

BTW, with the help of the Internet, I found that I was born on an auspicious day, i.e., the beginning of the Allied breakout known as Operation Cobra, which spelled defeat for Germany. So although I was born on this day, at the same moment, as I was being born, on July 25, 1944, the operation had begun in France.



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)