Prehistoric Textile Fabrics Of The United States, Derived From Impressions On Pottery - Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1884, pages 393-425 by William Henry Holmes
page 27 of 34 (79%)
page 27 of 34 (79%)
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probable that the impressions upon the fragments are from nets of native
manufacture. Wyman states that nets or net impressions have not been found among the antiquities of Tennessee. I have found, however, that the pottery of Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland furnish examples of netting in great numbers. In many cases the meshes have been distorted by stretching and overlapping so that the fabric cannot be examined in detail; in other cases the impressions have been so deep that casts cannot be taken, and in a majority of cases the fragments are so decayed that no details of the cords and their combinations can be made out. In Fig. 103 we have a thoroughly satisfactory restoration from a small fragment of pottery picked up in the District of Columbia. It is shown a little larger than natural size in the drawing. The impression is so perfect that the twist of the cord and the form of the knot may be seen with ease. Most of the examples from this locality are of much finer cord and have a less open mesh than the specimen illustrated. It is a noteworthy fact that in one of these specimens an incised pattern has been added to the surface of the soft clay after the removal of the net. Recent collections from the mounds of Western North Carolina have brought to light many examples of net-marked pottery. Generally the impressions are quite obscure, but enough can be seen in the cast to show clearly the character of the fabric. The restoration given in Fig. 104 represents an average mesh, others being finer and others coarser. Another specimen from the same collection is shown in Fig. 105. The impression is not very distinct, bat there is an apparent doubling of the cords, indicating a very unusual combination. It is possible that |
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