NO.    4       INDIAN    SITES    ON    THE    RAPPAHANNOCK BUSHNELL  49 
Specimen  k.  No  indication  of  coil.  No  tempering.  The  impression 
on  the  surface  was  made  by  a  rather  closely  woven  fabric  formed  of 
coarse,  loosely  twisted  cords,  probably  bison  hair.  In  texture  this 
resembles  charred  fabrics  found  in  mounds  in  the  Ohio  valley,  as 
well  as  work  of  historic  tribes." 
Specimen  /.  Coiled  ware.  No  evidence  of  tempering.  The  impres- 
sion on  the  surface  is  very  unusual  and  may  have  been  made  by  either 
a  basket  or  a  piece  of  woven  fabric.  Two  groups  of  woof  elements, 
which  may  have  been  twisted  cords,  crossed  as  they  passed  over  and 
under  parallel  warp.  The  straight  lines,  which  were  added  after  the 
impressions  had  been  produced,  are  similar  to  those  on  the  fourth  and 
fifth  specimens  on  the  second  row  already  mentioned. 
Specimen  in.  Coiled  ware.  Tempering,  small  amount  of  sand  or 
crushed  quartz.  At  the  crossing  of  many  of  the  cords  forming  the 
net  meshes  there  is  a  short  depression  in  the  clay,  made  when  it  was 
in  a  plastic  condition.  This  is  difficult  to  explain  by  any  knot.  It  may 
not  have  been  a  part  of  the  net  proper  but  fragments  of  small  feathers 
that  had  been  attached  to  the  meshes,  an  art  practiced  by  the  Indians 
of  Virginia  as  well  as  by  neighboring  and  related  tribes  both  north 
and  south.  An  account  of  the  Delaware  '*  and  their  native  arts  during 
the  years  1654-1656  sheds  light  on  customs  that  may  not  have  differed 
from  those  practiced  by  the  Indians  of  the  Rappahannock  during  the 
same  years.  Lindestrom  wrote  in  part  when  referring  to  their  use 
of  feathers  (p.  221)  :  "  They  also  make  very  fine  and  beautiful  quilts 
of  painted  bird  feathers.  In  the  first  place  they  tie  them  with  meshes 
like  nets,  yet  very  fine  ;  then  they  fasten  the  feathers  in  the  meshes, 
so  neat  and  strong  that  not  one  feather  can  come  loose  from  it ;  it 
would  sooner  go  clear  off."  This  was  also  translated  "  The  feather 
would  sooner  break  off  than  come  loose."  Were  small  pieces  of  quill 
to  remain  'in  the  knots  of  the  net,  the  impression  in  clay  would 
resemble  that  on  the  surface  of  ;;/. 
Specimen  n.  No  evidence  of  coil.  Tempering,  crushed  shell  or 
vegetal  substance,  all  traces  of  which  have  disappeared.  Very  hard. 
The  impression  on  the  surface  was  made  by  an  open,  netlike  fabric. 
This  was  made  by  holding  a  single  woof  element  between  two  strands 
"  Compare  Holmes,  W.  H.,  Prehistoric  textile  art  of  eastern  United  States. 
In  13th  Ann.  Rep.  Bur.  Ethnol.,  p.  36,  pis.  6,  7,  1896. 
°*  Lindestrom,  Peter,  Geographia  Americae  with  an  account  of  the  Delaware 
Indians,  based  on  surveys  and  notes  made  in  1654- 1656.  Translated  from  the 
original  manuscript  with  notes,  by  Amandus  Johnson.  The  Swedish  Colonial 
Society,  Philadelphia,  1925. 
