Questions 40 through 43 Listen to part of a talk in a cultural anthropology class. Recently some anthropologist conducted an interesting case study in ethnology. Now ethnology as you recall, is a branch of anthropology that deals with how various cultures developed and changed. The study was about the development of basket weaving by African-American woman who live in the town of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The town is known for its high quality sweet grass baskets which are woven by these woven by these women, they’re been weaving the baskets for generations, handing down the skill from mother to daughter. Some of the baskets have been place on permanent display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The origin of their basket weaving dates back to the 17th century and even earlier when these women’s ancestors came to the United States from the west coast of Africa. Now, it’s mainly a hobby 。But back in the 17th and 18th century African American women wove the baskets for use on the rice plantations. There were two types of baskets then: workbasket and baskets for use in the home. The workbaskets were made out of bulrush. Bulrush is a long, tough grass that grows in marshes. One type of workbaskets was the fan basket which was used to separate grains of rice from the waste. The baskets used in the homes were made out of more delicate sweet grass. They were used for everything from fruit baskets to baby cradles.