Prehistoric Textile Art of Eastern United States Part 6

It would seem that imprints of cloth woven in the plain interlaced style appear to be quite rare, although it is difficult, from the impressions on clay, to distinguish this from other forms when the threads are closely impacted. In somewhat rare cases the interlacing is so arranged and alternated as to give diagonal effects as in a specimen shown in figure 13. These effects are peculiar to the interlaced fabrics, not being produced in twined or netted work.

It has been supposed that vessels of clay were often modeled in baskets, and that the native earthenware preserved numerous impressions of baskets. On closer a.n.a.lysis these impressions turn out to be the application of pliable cloths, or of cords singly or in groups, or of stamps covered with textiles or having geometric textile-like patterns engraved on them. I can not recall a single example from eastern United States in which it is entirely clear that the clay vessel was modeled in a basket. The impressions of basket work occasionally seen are only partial, having been applied after the vessel was practically finished.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VII DRAWINGS OF CHARRED FABRIC FROM MOUNDS.]

I present in figure 13, a small earthen vessel from a mound in North Carolina, the entire exterior surface of which is marked with a fabric, a pliable cloth or bag woven in the twined styled. The impressions are not the result of a single application of the texture, but consist of several disconnected imprintings as if the hand or a paddle covered with cloth had been used in handling the vessel or in imparting a desired finish to the surface.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.--Fabric-marked vase from a mound in North Carolina.]

Specimens of diagonal fabrics, restored from potsherds, are given in figures 14 and 15. The first is a very neatly woven diagonal from the ancient pottery of Polk county, Tennessee. Two series of cords have been interwoven at right angles to each other, but so arranged as to produce the diagonal effect. One series of the cords is fine and well twisted, the other coa.r.s.er and very slightly twisted. The second is a piece of matting restored from the impression on a small piece of pottery collected in Alabama. It was probably made of rushes or heavy blades of gra.s.s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.--Diagonal fabric, ancient pottery of Tennessee.]

Twined weaving prevails in the fabrics impressed on pottery as in those from all other aboriginal sources. An example of the simplest form, obtained from a small fragment of pottery found in Polk county, Tennessee, is shown in figure 16. Two series of threads are interwoven at right angles, the warp being arranged in pairs and the woof singly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.--Fabric from the ancient pottery of Alabama.]

At each intersection the pairs of warp threads are twisted half around upon themselves, inclosing the woof threads and holding them quite firmly, so that the open net-like effect is well preserved even under strain or in long continued use. There are many varieties of this form of fabric resulting from differences in size and s.p.a.cing of the threads.

These differences are well brought out in the succeeding figures.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 16.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Tennessee.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 17.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Tennessee.]

In figure 17 we have a characteristic example of this fabric, obtained from a fragment of pottery from a mound at Sevierville, Tennessee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VIII COPPER CELTS WITH REMNANTS OF CLOTH.]

The impression is quite perfect. The cords are somewhat uneven, and seem to have been only moderately well twisted. They were probably made of hemp fiber. It will be observed that the threads of the web are placed at regular intervals, while those of the woof are irregularly placed. It may be noticed that in one case the woof has not been doubled, the single thread having, as a consequence, exactly the same relation to the opposing series as corresponding threads in simple interlacing. The impression, of which this is only a part, indicates that the cloth used in shaping the vessel was considerably distorted when applied to the soft clay.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 18.--Twined fabric from ancient salt vessel, Illinois.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 19.--Twined fabric from ancient salt vessel, Illinois.]

Nowhere else are found so many fine impressions of fabrics on clay vessels as in the ancient salt-making localities of the Mississippi valley. The huge bowls or vats used by the primitive salt-maker have generally been modeled in coa.r.s.e, open fabrics, or have had cloths impressed upon them for ornament. In figures 18 and 19 fine examples of these impressions are given. The latter engraving ill.u.s.trates a specimen in which every detail is perfectly preserved. Only a small portion of the original is shown in the cut. It is noticeable that the cords are quite heavy and well twisted, although the s.p.a.cing is somewhat irregular.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 20.--Twined fabric from a piece of clay, Arkansas.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 21.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Tennessee.]

The example given in figure 20, impressed on a fragment of clay from Arkansas, has an ornamental border produced by looping the cords of the web, which seem to have been five in number, each one pa.s.sing over four others before recrossing the frame. A specimen showing a somewhat different border is given in figure 21.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 22.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Missouri.]

The interesting specimen ill.u.s.trated in figure 22 was obtained from a small fragment of pottery found in Ripley county, Missouri. The combination of the two series of strands clearly indicates the type of fabric, the twisted cords of the woof being placed very far apart. The warp is of braid formed by plaiting strands of untwisted fiber, probably bast. All the details are shown in the most satisfactory manner in the clay cast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 23.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Carter county, Tennessee.]

In figure 23 we have a similar fabric closely woven or impacted. I have made the drawing to show fillets of fiber appearing at the ends; these do not appear in the impression. It is highly probable, however, that these fillets are plaited bands, as in the preceding example. They are wide and flat, giving somewhat the effect of basket-work of splints or rushes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 24.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Tennessee.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 25.--Twined fabric from ancient pottery, Tennessee.]

Another variety of the twined fabrics, distinguished by peculiarities in the combinations of the threads, is ill.u.s.trated in figures 24 and 25.

The threads of the warp are arranged in pairs as in the specimens already described, but are twisted in such a way as to inclose two of the opposing series instead of one, each succeeding pair of warp threads taking up alternate pairs of the woof threads. Figure 25 is from a small piece of pottery exhumed from a mound on Fain island, Jefferson county, Tennessee. The threads of the woof are quite close together, those of the web being far apart.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 26.--Twined fabric, with patterns, Ohio valley.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 27.--Net from ancient pottery, District of Columbia.]

That the native love of decoration had a marked influence on the weavers' art in its simplest and rudest as well as higher forms is well evinced even in the meager vestiges brought to light by researches in the mounds. Decorative borders and fanciful combinations of strands are shown in some of the preceding cuts, and figure 26, copied from a pottery fragment obtained in the Ohio valley, indicates a more ambitious attempt at embellishment. The fabric was evidently of ornate design and the execution excellent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. IX BITS OF FABRIC-MARKED POTTERY, WITH CLAY CASTS OF SAME]

Plate IX is intended to convey a clear notion of the nature and appearance of fabric-marked pottery and of the manner of securing positive impressions in clay. Three bits of pottery from Illinois are placed at the left, and the three casts appear at the right. All ill.u.s.trate open fabrics of comparatively simple pattern done in the characteristic twined style.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 28.--Net from ancient pottery, North Carolina.]

Nets were in use by the Indians of Florida and Virginia at the time of the discovery, and the ancient pottery of the Atlantic states has preserved impressions of innumerable specimens. The piece shown in figure 27 is from a small fragment of pottery picked up in the District of Columbia. The impression is so perfect that the twist of the cord and the form of the knot may be seen with ease. Most of the examples from this locality are of much finer cord and have a less open mesh than the specimen ill.u.s.trated. The net ill.u.s.trated in figure 28 is from a specimen of North Carolina pottery. Netting of this cla.s.s was still in use among the natives of the Chesapeake region when the English colonies were founded.

The lesson of the prehistoric textile art of eastern United States is simple and easily read, and goes far to round out the story of native occupation and culture. Colonial records furnish definite knowledge of the woven fabrics and weaving of the nations first encountered by the whites. Graves, mounds, and caves give us an insight into the pre-Columbian status of the art, and evidence furnished by a.s.sociated industries which happen to echo features of the textile art contribute to our information. Charred cloths from the great mounds are identical in material, combination of parts, and texture with the fabrics of the simple savage. Cloths preserved by contact with copper implements and ornaments characteristic of the art of the builders of the mounds do not differ in any way from the humble work of the historic peoples. All tell the same story of a simple, primitive culture, hardly advanced beyond the grade separating the savage from the barbarous condition.

[51] Nat. and Abor. Hist, of Tenn., John Haywood. Nashville, 1823, pp. 163-165.

[52] Ibid., p. 62.

[53] Trans. and Coll. Amer. Antiq. Soc. Worcester, 1820, vol.

1, pp. 318, 319.

[54] Histoire de la Louisiane. Du Pratz. Paris, 1758, vol. II, p. 191.

[55] Histoire de la Louisiane, Du Pratz. Paris, 1758, vol. II, p. 193.

[56] Recent Archaeological Discoveries in the American Bottom.

Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, March 2, 1877, p. 208.