A whole range of crafts centred round basketry and palm-work survive in Musandam and are still used for functional purpose like mats for drying fish and dates, conical food covers, weighing baskets, fans and date sacks. The palm ribs were used until recently, and were soaked in water then sliced into strips, for domed fish traps and chicken coops. Nowadays they are made of weir. Chimerical dyes from India are used in the decorative basket work as none of the requisite plants for natural dyes exists in the northern extremities of MusandamThe fibrous top part of the palm trunk was used by men for making rope and string, while the women used it for scouring pots and pans.
Traditional measurements are still used, based on distances from elbow to fingertip, or thumb to little finger when the hand is outstretched. A woman can make 100 fans as well as 20 mats and food covers a month, but today as more and more artefacts for the home are bought rather than made, a woman will not make them unless there is a commission. Women have more time than in the old days, with water and electricity making household chores easier, their children out at school, and men out fishing, so most would be willing to sew and braid each day if there was a demand. The crafts are no longer passed automatically from mother to daughter and father to son, as there
seems little point and the children are away at school anyway.
