H.S. Teoh et al. wrote:

> >
> > But what of those cultures that don't know the wheel?
>
> Are there any (real) cultures that don't know the wheel? I can't think
> of any offhand.
>
>
> > That's why I prefer using the sun as the referent for "clockwise"
> > motion.  I wonder if there is any lexeme in the American Indian
> > cultures for this concept, prior to colonization.
> [...]
>
> You mean the pre-colonial Amerindian cultures don't know the wheel?
> That's interesting.
>
Apparently not. Bear in mind, until the horse was brought in by the
Spaniards, there were no adequate beasts of burden. (Dogs and people can't
pull much; llamas are difficult, plus an Andean mountainside isn't someplace
you'd want to be in a wheeled vehicle....).  Mexican/Mayan cultures, maybe--
IIRC ceramic wheeled toys (or miniature models?) have been found.

I was pondering-- aside from the sun, what other rotating things would be
known in a non-wheeled culture? Maybe circle dances (in which the direction
might be ritually important); other shamanistic rituals, where again the
correct rotation of ritual items/stirring things in pots etc. might be
crucial. You stir your eye of newt mixture one direction, well and good; the
wrong way, uh-oh!!

Circle dances: isn't it a bit counter-intuitive (since "clockwise" is
essentially right-moving) that if you're facing the center, you dance to
your _left_; or, OTOH in a line facing 90° from the center, you would first
have turned to your _left_, then dance forward. Perhaps even after acquiring
wheels and clocks, "clockwise" might still be translated as "in the manner
of the XXXX dance".