bushnell: textiles from ozark caves 



321 



^^7, 



45 cm. square, but unfortunatelj^ it was cut. The horizontal 

 elements, as shown in the drawing, are about 1 cm. apart; the 

 strands passing in the other direction are rather compact. The 

 former are made of Indian hemp, Apocynum cannahinum, dyed 

 red and black, the colors being used alternately. The other 

 strands are hard and brittle and the material was probably de- 

 rived from the outer sur- 

 face of a nettle, Urtica- 

 ceae, used at the present 

 time by the Osage. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Francis 

 LaFlesche this is un- 

 doubtedly of Osage ori- 

 gin. The blue-black 

 dye used in coloring the 

 strands of Indian hemp 

 resembles the dye even 

 now made by them. It 

 is prepared by boiling to- 

 gether, in water, a quan- 

 tity of maple bark and 

 red ocher, the latter hav- 

 ing first been roasted. To this liquid is added a certain quantity 

 of grease, the result being a blue-black dye or paint. 



This specimen at once suggests a piece of cloth recovered from 

 a rock shelter on the bank of Cliff Creek, Morgan County, Ten- 

 nessee, in 1885. The technique of the two is the same, but the 

 latter measures about 115 cm. by 60 cm. and is made entirely of 

 Indian hemp. This, and other objects were "Found in a grave 

 3 1 feet below the surface in earth strongly charged with niter 

 and perhaps other preservative salts. The more pliable cloths, 

 together with skeins of vegetal fiber, a dog's skull, some bone 

 tools, and portions of human bones and hair, were rolled up in a 

 large spUt-cane mat."^ These are among the most interesting 

 specimens in the National Museum collection. 



» Holmes, W. H., Prehistoric textile art of the Eastern United States, in 

 Thirteenth Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, p. 30. 



Fig. 4. Natural size 



