In SW Missouri/ NW Arkansas there were a series of bluff overhangs that were dry enough to live. Woodland and Mississippian age people dwelled there. They were known as the bluff dwellers. It also meant that their material artifacts did not rot away so easily. In a report on this site I found some atlatl details, basket designs and a strange little comb made out of cane. Curious, I tried my hand at making one.
Shaping: First I got a long segment of cane and split out 1/4 sections. Where possible I split out 1/8 sections. This often led to bad splits that wasted the whole segment. So I quit being greedy. Once split I sanded the segments to a more or less round cross section.
Bending: Next I boiled the splints to make them pliable. I pulled each one out individually and wearing gloves, bent them to the desired shape. They looked like an arch when done but would restore the original shape if not in a form. For the form I used tin cans of assorted sizes to keep them bent like I wanted. Simply place the two ends in the can. The various sizes gave me arches with various widths. They cannot all have the same angle or they won't stack flat.
Binding: I then made about 10 feet of thin dogbane cordage to bind it all together. Typical warp and weft procedure.
I will try to find that article and scan the original pic. to post when I get a chance.
