ABORIGINAL AMHRICAX lUSKI-TkY: 

 STl'DIHS L\ A TI:XTILI: ART WITHOUT MAIHIXI-RY 



I>y Otis Tcftox M asox, 

 Cirriitor, Ifirlsioii of J-Jllimi/of/i/. 



Artde et ha.fndnla ct mille esraria. 



Terenck, 12:46. 

 BarbMHi de pictis veni haxruwhi Britannis 

 Sed me jam mavnlt dicere Roma snnm. 



Marti A I,. XIV: 99. 



INTRODUCTION 



Aboriginal Britisli or Pictisli baskets aiul a thousand receptacles, 

 says Terence, were carried to Rome by the successors of Julius Cwsar, 

 and Martial adds that the word ""basket" is Pictish." though the Romans 

 would have us l)elieve it to have lieen indio;enous. 



R(Mnnants of basketry are o-athered from the Swiss lake dwidlino's. 

 made in several of the technical proces.ses well known to thc^ American 

 Indians and to be desci-ibed later. 



In the second volume of Keller's Lake Dwellin<>-s (pis. i;^>4-13T) 

 are startlingly interesting groups of such basketry. Vou have, first 

 of all, the methods of treating the bark of trees and tlax to form the 

 tiber in various stages of preparation. Network and frame weaving- 

 are also there illustrated, but in this plac(>. attention is drawn only to 

 the basketry. On his Plate l;-!4 may l)e seen plain checkerwork and 

 twined work in 2-strand and ;^>-stand varieties, also coiled work in the 

 following varieties: {a) Foundation of two rods, sewing done with bark 

 strips so as to inclose both rods l)elow. the stitches interlocking; {h) 

 foundation of two rods, sewing inclosing them both, ))ut not one of the 

 I'ods underneath; the stitches interlock and split the upper portion of 

 the one just below, as in many American baskets. The twined work of 

 Robenhausen and Wangen is in a great number of varieti(\s. There is 

 solid, plain weaving; also open work twined weaving, th<* body being 

 stems of plants; l)orders are held together with twined weaving. In 

 some specimens of open work the warp of twined weaving is in })airs; 



«0n the derivation of the word, however, connult the New Enfrhsh I)ictioiiar\- :uid 

 the Century Dictionary. 



185 



