String game

String Figures were widely studied by anthropologists around the 1880s through the turn of the century. They appear to have arisen independently as an entertainment pastime in many societies. Many figures were collected and described from Pacific Islanders, Eskimos and other Native Americans. One exhaustive study of this material culture is "String Figures and How to Make Them" by Caroline Furness Jayne, which can be found as a Dover reprint.