Striped sling with Jaspe

The sling is woven with cotton in a hip loom. The sling consists of one piece of woven textile. Some of the stripes are decorated using the Jaspe technique. Jaspe is a dyeing technique in knots used to produce decorative motifs. In this technique, specific parts of the thread are covered (by tying the thread in specific places) to prevent these parts from becoming coloured when the thread is dipped in the paint. When the knots are undone, after dyeing, the thread contains dyed and unpainted segments. During the weaving process, figures are formed with these threads.A sling is a garment used by both men and women. It has a square or rectangular shape, and it can have different sizes. The function of the sling is to carry heavy items, such as groceries, or to carry babies and young children in the cloth on the back. As a whole, it features stripes in different colors. It is unknown if this sling was intended for daily or ceremonial occasions, and if it was used by men and/or women. \San Juan Ostuncalco is located in the department of Quetzaltenango. In 2007, San Juan Ostuncalco had a population of 47,278, of which 40,866 belonged to the Mam culture.