Here we tell you about the millennium origin and tradition of the hammock Y why does everyone want one. That strange network that hangs from two ends and seems to have a supernatural force of attraction that forces you to stay on it for its comfort and freshness.
In the hammock can converge almost all capitals sinsfrom an attack gluttony in that horizontal comfort defying the posture of your anatomy with the risk of choking, going through the envy either go to if another person won it from you; pride if you are the one who enjoys it; avarice if you don’t settle for one; lust in the form of a net that causes you to throw yourself on it or laziness without restrictions if you are sprawled in it.
Why does everyone want a hammock?
In hot and tropical climates the use of hammock It has become popular, because you just need to lie down for it to adopt exactly the shape your body needs to relax and if you add to that the rhythmic sway When you rock, the warm wind that is generated contributes to having more freshness than the net alone provides.
If, on the contrary, you do not live in a place with a hot climate like the one on the peninsula of Yucatanbut where low temperatures predominate and you have not had the pleasure of lying on it, try it and you will see how the hammock it suits you; it will suffice to include a good coat and from there to creating the habit there is only one step, because you will see that your coo It can even give the impression that the hammock is asking you how your workday was, while it caresses your head.
Only who has not rocked in a hammock He still doesn’t know he loves her.
Hammock: this is its history and origin
Although its origin is unclear, several historians have placed it for about a thousand years in the Antilleswith the Taínos, from where the Spanish conquerors would have brought them to Americabordered by the hot climate of the region that prevented them from sleeping and how easy it was to transport them.
The name comes from the word ‘hamac’, which means tree; so it was named hammock by the conquerors because the first ones were made with filaments of tree bark. There are also those who link their origin to the culture Arawakgroups of indigenous peoples of northern South America and the Caribbean.
Other lands where the hammock has been used since ancient times are Haiti, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Argentina and Uruguay.
This coincides with the absence of any mention of the hammock in the relations of Friar Diego de Landain its relationship of things from Yucatanwho embodied in his chronicles an extensive description of the uses and customs of the ancient Maya, but there is no mention of the hammockinstead, described how the Maya slept in “barbecues”.
Hammock, the tradition in Yucatan
The first indications of the presence of hammocks on the yucatan peninsulaare after the Spanish colonization and their true penetration into the culture of the population came later, when the Mayans learned the technique to make their own hammocks and they made their own henequen and cotton weaving technique.
Although the hammock I arrive coming from other lands, the truth is that in the area it converted its use and craftsmanship in the peninsula of Yucatan in a whole traditionand it was here where its manufacture it evolved, because the Mayans began to weave them with threads of different materials such as henequen, due to its abundance in the area, which could also be softened. They also experimented with different colors. Later they tried other fibers such as cottonuntil we get to what we know today.
The hammockbeing “floating”, in addition to adding freshness due to its rhythmic movement, it protects from crawling animals and insects and the first record in America about the description of the hammock It is Gonzálo Fernández de OviedoSpanish colonizer, who referred to it in this way in the 16th century.
“A woven blanket in parts and open in parts, with crossed squares made of a net, because it is more fresh, and it is made of spun cotton, which is ten or twelve spans long and more or less as wide as they want it to be. The ends of this blanket are seized, and many strings of cabuya or henequen. These threads or ropes are false and long, and each one ends by itself at the end or ends of the hammock, from a thread lock, which is made like a crossbow cord thumbscrew, and they garnish it thus, attached to the width of the hammock. cornijal to cornijal, at the end of the hammock“.
And he continues, mentioning their usefulness as beds:
“To whom they put ropes of strings of cotton or of cabuya either dates or of the thickness that they want: to which ropes they call hicos, because hico means the same as rope, or rope; And one child is tied to a tree or post and the other to the other, and the hammock remains in the air, as high off the ground as they want to put it. They are good and clean beds, and since the earth is temperate, there is no need for clothing on top.”
How is the hammock made?
A frame is used to guide the threads of the hammockwhich It consists of two long wooden sticks, cylindrical and perpendicular, about two meters long, placed parallel one in front of the other, at a distance of one and a half or two meters, depending on the size you want.
Before starting to weave the weft, an edge is woven in an original shape, which is what constitutes the edge of the hammock. The two vertical sticks of the frame are surrounded in the form of a skein with the thread that is going to be used for weaving. Then a needle or shuttle made of strong wood or bone is taken, pierced in the center and in which the thread has been previously wound and the weaver begins to intertwine it with the warp threads and the weft is formed. mesh.
As you will see, the hammock It is an art and resting on it is irresistible. If you are already addicted to using it, calm down! Do not feel guilty for preferring the hammock rather than “socializing” through the networks. Faced with the dilemma, it is understandable that you prefer to remain placidly enjoying it to your heart’s content.