Page 125 - J. C. Turner - History and Science of Knots

114 History and Science of Knots

peoples in the world , the Inuit also had creative pastimes involving string. East
Greenlandic cat's cradles , for instance, were studied extensively by Victor [31].
Old samples of decorative knotting have been excavated on Ruin Island [24]
and a more recent one can be found on the Ross sledge [7]. However, in this
paper I will be primarily concerned with simple knotted structures . Hence I
will not consider rawhide splices, lashings or any other elaborations.
Concerning the objects under discussion there are a number of possible
views which affect the mode of classification:

Structures : One can consider the pure structure, allowing deformation
but not cutting or gluing, of the knot we are looking at. In mathematical
terminology one speaks of considering structures up to isotopy.
Applications : Roughly, knots' functionality can be split into three cat-
egories, namely: Hitches, Bends and Loop Knots. They cover respectively
the attaching of a knottable medium to another, usually rigid, object;
lengthening a rope; and forming a loop at the end or in the middle of
a rope. One and the same structure may have different functionalities.
For example, the Sheet Bend structure may function as a bend and also
feature in one of the many Bowline forms as a loop knot.
Materials : Here, one groups knotted structures according to the mate-
rials in which they are realised. There may be backgrounds in tradition,
superstition or other reasons, for using specific knots for certain mate-
rials. Although Inuit culture often demands the separation of elements
from hunting on the sea and elements from hunting on the land, the Inuit
do use baleen for snaring land animals.

Due to the confined scope of this paper we will see knots as application-specific
structures. Hence the focus will mainly be on the structures and application.
However, we shall commence with a brief introduction to the materials em-
ployed. They justify a comprehensive study in their own right.

Description of Materials

Real-life knots cannot be realised without a medium. The choice of knots is
affected by the material properties of the medium in which they are realised.
In turn this affects the types of knots observers may chance to encounter. For
this reason we discuss aspects of the materials in which the Inuit have tied
their knots.
Baleen
Baleen is a horn-like plating found in the rear of the whale's mouth cavity,
used as a plankton filter. It appears that John Davis was the first to mention