A string figure is a design formed by manipulating string on, around, and using one's fingers or sometimes between the fingers of multiple people. String figures may also involve the use of the mouth, wrist, and feet. They may consist of singular images or be created and altered as a game, known as a string game, or as part of a

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

involving various figures made in sequence (string story). String figures have also been used for divination, such as to predict the sex of an unborn child. A popular string game is

cat's cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fir ...

, but many string figures are known in many places under different names, and string figures are well distributed throughout the world.Elffers, Joost and Schuyt, Michael (1978/1979). ''Cat's Cradles and Other String Figures'', p.197. .

History

According to Camilla Gryski, a Canadian librarian and author of numerous string figure books, "We don't know when people first started playing with string, or which primitive people invented this ancient art. We do know that all primitive societies had and used string—for hunting, fishing, and weaving—and that string figures have been collected from native peoples all over the world." "Of the games people play, string figures enjoy the reputation of being the most widespread form of amusement in the world: more cultures are familiar with string figures than with any other game. Over 2,000 individual patterns have been recorded worldwide since 1888, when anthropologist Franz Boas first described a pair of Inuit string figures (Boas 1888a, 1888b, Abraham 1988:12)." String figures are probably one of humanity's oldest games, and is spread among an astonishing variety of cultures, even ones as unrelated as

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

s and the

Dayaks The Dayak (; older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are one of the native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central and southern interior of Borneo, each ...

of Indonesia;

Alfred Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural sele ...

who, while traveling in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

in the 1800s, thought of amusing the Dayak youths with a novel game with string, was in turn very surprised when they proved to be familiar with it, and showed him some figures and transitions that he hadn't previously seen.Buchanan, Andrea J. and Peskowitz, Miriam (2007). ''The Daring Book for Girls'', p.277. . The

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and v ...

Louis Leakey has also attributed string figure knowledge with saving his lifeMorell, Virginia (1996). ''Ancestral Passions'', p.33. . and described his use of this game in the early 1900s to obtain the cooperation of Sub-Saharan African

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

s otherwise unfamiliar with, and suspicious of, Europeans, having been told by his teacher A.C. Haddon, "You can travel anywhere with a smile and a piece of string." The Greek physician Heraklas produced the earliest known written description of a string figure in his first century monograph on surgical knots and slings. This work was preserved by republication in

Oribasius Oribasius or Oreibasius ( el, Ὀρειβάσιος; c. 320 – 403) was a Greek medical writer and the personal physician of the Roman emperor Julian. He studied at Alexandria under physician Zeno of Cyprus before joining Julian's retinue. H ...

' fourth century ''Medical Collections''. The figure is described as a sling to set and bind a broken jaw, with the

chin The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be on ...

being placed in the center of the figure and the four loops tied near the top of the head. Called the "''Plinthios Brokhos''", the resulting figure has been identified by multiple sources as the figure known to

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Island ...

as "The Sun Clouded Over". The Inuit are purported to possess a string figure representing the extinct

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived during the Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with '' Mammuthus subp ...

. String figures were widely studied by

s like

James Hornell James Hornell (1865 – February 1949) was an English zoologist and seafaring ethnographer. He was a cousin of Edward Atkinson Hornel, a Scottish painter. Career As a zoologist Hornell published a number of papers on marine organisms working most ...

from the 1880s through around 1900, as they were used in attempts to trace the origin and developments of cultures. String figures, once thought to have proven monogenesis, appear to have arisen independently as an entertainment pastime in many societies. Many figures were collected and described from south-east Asia, Japan, South America, West Indies,

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

s, Inuit and other Native Americans.Gryski, Camilla (1983). ''Cat's Cradle, Owl's Eyes: A Book of String Games'', p.4. . Figures have also been collected in Europe and Africa. One of the major works on the subject is '' String Figures and How to Make Them'' (), by

Caroline Furness Jayne Caroline Augusta Furness Jayne (July 3, 1873 – June 23, 1909) was an American ethnologist who published the first book on string figures in 1906 titled ''String Figures: A Study of Cat's Cradle in Many Lands''. Early life and education J ...

. The International String Figure Association (ISFA) was formed in 1978 with the primary goal of gathering, preserving, and distributing string figure knowledge so that future generations will continue to enjoy this ancient pastime.

Terms

Anatomical string figure locations, both hands

While in string figure literature there are many phrases often used, there may be some variation with the fingers, loops, and strings indicated in different ways. A loop is the strings that go around the back of a finger, multiple fingers, or another body part such as the wrist. Some authors name the strings, fingers and their loops (near middle finger string, right index finger, pinky loop, for example), while others number them (3n, R1, 5 loop). One of the first methods of recording figures and sets of terminology was an anatomical system proposed in "A Method of Recording String Figures and Tricks" by

W. H. R. Rivers William Halse Rivers Rivers Royal Society, FRS Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, FRAI ( – ) was an England, English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist known for treatment of First World War ...

and A. C. Haddon. Though location or locations of a string are most often indicated by casual systems of terms such as "near" or "far", the Rivers and Haddon system is far less ambiguous, though this may be unnecessary for the most common, illustrated, figures.Averkieva and Sherman (1992), p.xxviii. . Below are some common moves, openings, and extensions. *Openings ** Murray Opening/Index Opening: The loop is grasped with the middle, ring, and little fingers so that there is a couple inches of string between them. These fingers are put together so there is a circle made by the overlapping strings. The index finger is inserted from the far side into the circle, and the index finger rotated upwards, circling towards the body. ** Position 1: The ''untwisted'' loop is put on the thumb and little fingers. ** Opening A: Following from Position 1, the right index finger picks up the string on the left hand going between the thumb and the little finger. The left index finger then goes between both strings of right index finger, and picks up the string going from the right thumb to little finger. ** Opening B: Place the loop around one's thumbs, then insert the left index proximally into the thumb loop, taking up the left ulnar thumb string. Insert one's right finger proximally into the left index loop, taking up the radial string and forming an x. ** Japanese Opening: The Japanese Opening is similar to Opening A, however the strings are picked up with the middle fingers instead of the index fingers. *Extensions ** Caroline Extension: Starting with a loop on the thumb, the string is lifted in the nook of the index finger, then pinched between the index finger and thumb. *Moves **Pick up ** Navajo leap, "navajoing", or "Navajo": Given two loops on one finger, the lower loop is moved over the upper loop and released from the finger. **Release **Transfer **Rotate **Share ** (

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

for:put two things together): the thumbs loops are combined before strings are drawn through them

Notable collectors and enthusiasts

References

External links

Official website of the International String Figure Association
based in Pasadena, CA. *

' - Many examples with video clips showing how to make them. *

', "String Magazines" with many figures in English.
"The Survival, Origin and Mathematics of String Figures"
by Martin Probert.

" tring Figures from theIsland of Moa", collected by Kathleen Haddon.
How to Make a Cat's Cradle from a Piece of String: a video tutorial
MetaCafe.com.
String Games.pdf
by Arvind Gupt
cs.sfu.caarvindguptatoys.com
with illustrations by Avinash Deshpande (52-page PDF book). *Jayne, C. F. (1962/2009).
String Figures and How to Make Them
' - complete text and illustrations from the book, in HTML format. Jamis Buck, compiler.
LOop Paper Toys
A series of DEMO videos about String Figures made by Ludwig Caballero. *Murphy, James R. (11/06/2012).

, ''HuffingtonPost.com''. {{DEFAULTSORT:String Figure Children's games Decorative ropework Street games

History

Terms

Notable collectors and enthusiasts

See also

References

Further reading

External links