404 PREHISTORIC TEXTILE FABRICS. 



of Switzerland. It is a mat plaited or woven of strips of bast, and was 

 found at Kobenhausen, having been preserved in a charred state. 2 Kel- 

 ler gives another example of a similar fabric of much finer texture in 

 Fig. 8, PL CXXXVI. 



An illustration of this form of fabric is given by Foster, 3 and repro- 

 duced in Fig. 69. 



In the same place this author presents another form of cloth showu 

 in my Fig. 70. In Fig. 71 we have a section of this fabric. These cloths, 

 with a number of other specimens, were taken from a mound on the 

 west side of the Great Miama River, Butler County, Ohio. The fabric 

 in both samples appears to be composed of some material allied to hemp. 

 As his remarks on these specimens, as well as on the general subject, 

 are quite interesting, I quote them somewhat at length. 



"The separation between the fibre and the wood appears to have been 

 as thorough and effectual as at this day by the process of rotting and 

 hackling. The thread, though coarse, is uniform in size, and regularly 

 spun. Two modes of weaving are recognized : In one, by the alternate 

 intersection of the warp and woof, and in the other, the weft is wound 

 ouce around the warp, a process which could not be accomplished ex- 

 cept by hand. In the illustration the interstices have been enlarged to 

 show the method of weaving, but in the original the texture was about 

 the same as that in coarse sail-cloth. In some ot the Butler County 

 specimens there is evidently a fringed border." 



In regard to the second specimen described, I would remark that it 

 is a very unusual form, no such combination of the parts having come 

 to my notice either in the ancient fabrics themselves or in the impres- 

 sions on pottery. In a very closely woven cloth it might be possible 

 to employ such a combination, each thread of the web being turned 

 once around each thread of the woof as shown in Fig. 71 ; but certainly 

 it would work in a very unsatisfactory manner in open fabrics. I would 

 suggest that this example may possibly belong to my second group, 

 which, upon the surface, would have a similar appearance. The combi- 

 nation of this form is shown in the section, Fig. 73. 



SECOND GROUP. 



It is not impossible, as previously stated, that open fabrics of the 

 plain type were avoided for the reason that the threads would not re- 

 main in place if subjected to tension. A very ingenious method of fixing 

 the threads of open work, without resorting to the device of knotting 

 has been extensively employed in the manufacture of ancient textiles. 



2 Keller : Lake-Dwellers. Fig. 2, PI. CXXXIV. 



3 Foster : Prehistoric Times. 



