2
$\begingroup$

The Maruvans (plant/flowerlike species) are a very primitive and use Stone Age level tools. They can make clothes out of tree bark but I’m trying to figure out how they would make a baby carrier at their level. They can’t make advance baby carriers because of limited technology and tools. I was thinking about something like this where they weave a baby carrier out of bark similar to this Chamacoco mother with her baby:

enter image description here

That’s all I can think of. Any suggestions?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. $\endgroup$
    – Community Bot
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 16:43
  • $\begingroup$ I already specified my problem. It’s relatively simple to understand. $\endgroup$
    – sydw1
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 16:53
  • $\begingroup$ Cradleboards. Baby slings. Swaddling ($\leftarrow$ this was the European way). (Ah, and as far as I know in the classical Greco-Roman world they just did not have any kind of specialized baby carriers; when they needed to carry their babies, they cradled them in their arms, possibly wrapped in a blanket, but not always. But they mostly did not expect the babies to leave the home before they learned to walk.) $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 16:53
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Uh... Can we consider it as being inclusive and respectful if we think that women nipples cannot be accepted, especially in a history picture which is neither erotic or pornographic? I'm not arguing with you sydw or @Daron. But well, we've seen much worse topics including... "Romantical approaches" between dragons and how to date without misusing your passive superpower. I just don't see what's the line of conduct here... $\endgroup$
    – Tortliena - inactive
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 1:02
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @Tortliena I don't know what the code of conduct is either. It doesn't make sense to me why one would black out one breast but not the other. If it was my question I would have used the image unmodified. But we have a new user here and it is worth demonstrating the options if something makes them uncomfortable. $\endgroup$
    – Daron
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 12:11

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
6
$\begingroup$

Most primitive people have cordage; basically ways to use plants to make cord, string, rope, etc. The word "linen" comes from the word "lin" which was the German word for the flax plant; this particular plant has quite strong fibers in the stem; the stems can be dried, crushed, and fairly long threads extracted, then woven or knotted together. Even by hand.

There is evidence of nets being made from plant sources many thousands of years ago, used for fishing or carrying cargo. (The plant-stuff rots away, but the pattern can be found in mud impressions of the net, that later fossilized into rocks.)

I'd assume your people can make nets, and a very natural way to carry a baby is, like your picture, a net or cloth carrier that can be worn over the shoulders, and tied around the waist. Not much different than the carriers you see today, for carrying infants on your chest or back.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Wow, thanks for the insight! Ancient people were much more skilled and advanced than we thought. So like you said, my peoples’ baby carrier wouldn’t be any different than ancient humans’. $\endgroup$
    – sydw1
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 19:40
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ And baby hammocks. Easy rocking baby hammocks. Baby nets could also be used to capture rogue babies. Probably they will fall asleep when captured because the hammock will remind them it is that time. $\endgroup$
    – Willk
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 14:26
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Fun little fact: the root lin- for flax goes all way back; all European Indo-European languages have words for linen or flax derived from a variant of it: Latin līnum (from where French linge and lingerie), Greek línon, Russian lyon. But the problem is that the old languages don't agree on whether the i is short or long, which probably means that the word is not Proto-Indo-European at all, but rather adopted from some even older Old European substrate language which the Indo-Europeans found here when they came. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented May 14, 2022 at 20:27
  • $\begingroup$ @AlexP That is cool; I never connected lin- and lingerie before. Cool. $\endgroup$
    – Amadeus
    Commented May 15, 2022 at 11:31
  • $\begingroup$ @Willk Oh yeah! I never heard of baby hammocks, that’s a nice little invention! I have to check that out. $\endgroup$
    – sydw1
    Commented May 16, 2022 at 2:14
3
$\begingroup$

Grow It:

These are plant people, right? Perhaps they grow a structure when they are having a baby, and then the parent that grows the structure has it growing off of them'

Wicker:

You don't need a ton of tech to weave baskets, and it would be a similar task to weave a baby carrier out of sticks, or reeds, or leather.

Fur:

Just because your people are plants doesn't mean they don't hunt. Lots of baby carriers are made of cloth, leather, or simply a hide cut to the right size and tied around the neck or shoulders.

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Those are good materials to use to make baby carriers! $\endgroup$
    – sydw1
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 19:41
2
$\begingroup$

Wicker Papoose

Wicker

How is babby carried? In a wicker papoose of course. Wicker is made of woven grass or reeds. Similar to textiles but with larger fibres.

The softness of the wicker depends on how dry the weaving material is. Using less dry material can make a soft bag or papoose to carry babby.

Plus eventually the papoose dries up and becomes rigid. Then you can store shells or seeds or whatever.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ A wicker papoose sounds like a an excellent idea! I can imagine Maruvan mothers carrying their babies with wicker papooses. I think wicker baskets might be a neat concept as well. $\endgroup$
    – sydw1
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 19:09
  • $\begingroup$ Just for the record, "papoose" is considered offensive among many First Nations. $\endgroup$
    – Keith Morrison
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 20:26
  • $\begingroup$ @KeithMorrison The only places I have seen the word are (a) to refer to a sling to carry a baby on the back or front and (b) in the original Peter Pan. Enough said about the second one being offensive or not. $\endgroup$
    – Daron
    Commented May 13, 2022 at 21:12

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .