ÇEMBERİN DOĞURGANLİĞI

Manual dexterity games using pliable loops of string have been recorded by ethnographers worldwide and in all climate zones. Be it fibrous cord, silk twine or leather thong - the medium is astonishingly simple: an endless sling (in topological terms a circle) obtained by knotting, splicing or tying together the ends of a two meter string*. The making of yarn and rope belongs to humanity's most ancient technical accomplishments. Twisted or braided cordage was used for equipping early foragers, hunters and fishermen with essentials: carrying nets, snaring traps, fishing nets, etc. Very early in prehistory - so can be assumed - artfully slung figures from endless loop of string were invented by primitive man as a mere pastime enjoyment or for ceremonial-ritual purposes. The enormous variety of such string figures inherited by the twentieth century, with their intricate slingings, laced intersections and convoluted line patterns together with the corresponding processes of their construction, can be considered the collective result of many anonymous individuals in uncounted human generations patiently practicing, perfecting and exploring further - with many a random discovery along the way. The multitude of different string figures in this tradition is astounding. Dickey (1928) talks already about more than 700 recorded. But many such patterns and their constructive movements could well have been lost as a consequence of relative late interest in the subject. Recording of this form of cultural heritage started only three generations ago. Hornell (1927), in his attempt to uncover traditional string figures in Samoa and Fiji, mentions not only the reluctance of natives to share their skills due to fear of ridicule for indulgence in a pastime which the white man may consider childish, but also the blight of missionary influence upon old customs (meaning, in its extreme, suppression by being banned). Disappearing indigenous string games - important manifestations of human ingenuity - are just one more example of rapid deterioration of native culture caused by a dominating Western civilization. These games consist of placing the loop of string over the hands and manipulating figure i. Two terminal patterns of ciosedioop it w i t n t h e fjngers j n various ways to generate a distinct figure in two or three string games as played by Alaskan Inuits ,. . ,,,, , , - , , , . . , ., (Kskimosi in the early 1900s and recorded by dimensions. Although players mainly use their hands, they sometimes also rely ü.B.Gordon, after Jayne(i906>. on their teeth, knees or toes for help. The manipulations are typically performed 196 (METU JFA 1988) GUNTER SCHMITZ 2. These and most of the following drawings in Figures 3-15 are after M.C.Betts, used first by Jayne (1906). They were, where necessary, improved for additional clarity. See also Ball (1920), Kattenstidt (1936) and Holden (1983). Table 1. Some basic ordering criteria affecting the theoretical variety of closed-loop string games. Technical details of diverse opening movements and types of intermediate steps are not considered. Examples covered in this article fall into the heavy framed categories. bilaterally and, for practical purposes, symmetrically, although exceptions exist. The resulting patterns can be plain or complex. Similarly, the forming process utilized can be simple or complicated. But a simple sequence of manipulations does not necessarily also lead to a simple result. So it is possible that a complex process will lead to a final pattern which is surprisingly simple and vice versa. Also, certain string figures can be accomplished with different processes. In some regions (such as Polynesia and the North-American Pacific NW) string games were often accompanied by specific recitations or traditional chants. And almost always string patterns were named after objects of daily environment or the spiritual world. Such associations were borrowed from animate or inanimate nature (humans, body parts, animals - quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, fish, crustaceans, insects, ... - plants, celestial bodies, weather, landscape, etc.) or were related to artifacts (tools, fences, ladders, clothing, shelter, hunting/fishing implements, transportation devices such as boat or sled,...). Some figures discern basic geometric shapes or represent motion (transit, flow, dance, athletic contest). Occasionally, personalities of tribal history or mythological figures are symbolized, too. Naming of patterns, however, is inconsistent and possibly changing repeatedly with cultural diffusion, because names of identical string patterns often vary with the geographic area of their documenting.