BOLMESl 



COPPER-PRESERVED FABRICS. 



37 



specimens of haircloth have been recovered from mouiuls. Mr. Henry 

 B. Howland found in a mound near Alton, Illinois, two varieties of cloth 

 preserved by couract with a copper ornament representing a turtle- 

 shell ; they are described as follows : 



Closely fittiug over the outer surface of the copper shell is, first, a woven cloth of 

 a vegetable fibre, similar in its general character to the outer matting above described, 

 but of a stronger and better preserved fibre, apparently more like that which forms 

 the woven coating of the Davenport axes. This is covered in turn with a softer, 

 finer fabric, now of a dark-brown color, formed of twisted strands, laid or matted 

 closely together, though apparently not woven. The material of which these strands 

 are formed proves, under microscopic examination, to be .ininial hair. ' 



An illustration of ancient split cane matting is presented in figure 

 12. The specimen was obtained from Petite —^ 



Anse island, near Vermilion bay, southern .^:z^ ^yy^ ^^ -^ 

 coast of Louisiana, and a photograph was 



presented to the Smithsonian Institution in I 



18G6, by J. F. Cleu. The following descrip- 

 tion, as given by Prof. Joseph Henry, ap- 



pears on the label attached to the specimen : 2ri~-"^ _!Jlil'^7Sr~ "U 



This fragment of matting was found near the sur- 

 face of the salt, and about 2 feet above it were re- 

 mains of tusks and bones of a fossil elephant. The 

 peoiliar interest in regard to the specimen is in its 

 occurrence in situ 2 feet below the elephant re- 

 mains, and about 14 feet below the surface of the 



soil, thus showing the existence of man on the island 



. ., 1 -i ■ ii 1 i. ii i- -I 1 1 4. Fig. 11.— Small portion of rush mat- 



prior to the deposit in the soil of the lossil elephant. tiDg preserved by contact with 



The material consists of theouter bark of thccommon copper. 



southern cane (J cKiifiinnriamao'ospficmo), and has been preserved for so long a period 



both by its silicious character and the strongly saline condition of the soil. 



!«; 



Fabrics I.mpresseu on Pottery. 



It was a common practice among the aborigines to employ woven 

 fabrics in the constructiou and ornamentation of earthenware. Im- 

 pressions were thus left on the clay, and by baking these were rendered 

 as lasting as if engraved on stone. 



From no other source do we obtain so wide a range of fabrics. The 

 fabric-marked vases and sherds are obtained from mounds, graves, and 

 village sites all over the country. There is not a state within the 

 Mississippi or Atlantic drainage that does not furnish some example of 

 the preservation of native fabric impressions on earthenware. The 

 perfection with which every character of these textures is preserved is 

 well shown in a number of the figures here introduced. 



A somewhat extended study of this subject was published in the 

 Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and illustrations of 

 nearly all the styles of weaving were given. As indicated by subse- 



Recent Archieolosical Discoveries iu the American Bottom. Bulletiu of the Buflalo Society of 

 Natural Sciences, March 2, 1877, p. 208. 



