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BUREAU OF AlVIERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bull. 182 



Fresh length of weft strings were not tied to the ends of the old ones (these 

 weavers seem to have had a deep seated aversion to knots), but were run a 

 little way with them until firmly set. . . . The method of procedure is un- 

 known ; it is probably, however, that the work was downward, the base of the 

 bag having been attached to a limb or pole and the warps allowed to hang 

 either free or tied in loose bunches to prevent tangling (see a picture of a 

 Virginia woman weaving a baglike basket, Mason, 1904, fig. 148 (p. 69)). 



Impressions of this same type occur on a nmnber of sherds in the 

 Clarksville site (44Mcl4) and the Hyco site (44Ha7) and the in- 

 sertions of new weft elements are readily recognized. 



A single sherd carried the imprint of a twined fabric terminating 

 in a well-worked border or edge. This particular specimen is prac- 

 tically identical with the one illustrated by Holmes (1896, pp. 33-34) 

 in which he describes the technique thus : 



The construction of the border or rim of this bag is quite remarkable as 

 shown in figure 8, the upper ends of the vertical strands are gathered in slightly 

 twisted groups of four and carried up free for about two inches when they 

 are brought together and plaited with remarkable neatness into a string 

 border. 



Wliether the fabric used on this particular specimen was a bag or 

 a portion of one cannot be identified. There is a slight difference be- 

 tween the two specimens: The interval between the plaited border 

 and the twined, woven section of the Clarksville specimen measured 

 slightly over three-quarters of an inch rather than the 2 inches indi- 

 cated by Holmes. 



A very elementary type of twined weaving (fig. 36) appears in 

 which the woof is a series of single threads bound by two series of warp 

 threads which are interwoven at right angles and twisted half around 

 upon themselves, holding each woof element firmly, thus creating a 

 loose, open, netlike fabric. There are a number of varieties but all 

 are essentially an elaboration of this basic pattern. Some have double 

 warp elements at right angles to the woof threads ; others are woven 

 on a diagonal, etc. 



Figure 35. — Sherd showing the negative impression of textile. 



