HOLMES] PRESERVATION OF FABRICS. 29

Ipass onto an examination ofthe archeologio materialwhich includes traces orremnantsof the weaver's

work

fromall sections ofthe coun- try.

As

alreadymentioned,therearea

number

of

ways

inwhichtextile articlesor datarelating to

them may

bepreserved in such

manner

as to permitexamination

and

study.

Through

charring

by

the use of fire in burial rites,

and by

contact with copper or preservative salts in burial caves,

numerous

pieces of cloth

and

parts ofcostumeshave

come

intoourpossession.

One

ofthe

most

fertilesources of information has but ^recentlybeen

made

availa- ble.

The

ancient potter

employed woven

fabricsinhandling,finishing, and decorating pottery.

From

mounds, graves,

and

dwellingsites, all

over the country, vases

and

sherds are found coveredwith impressions of these fabrics,

and

so wellpreserved that

by

takingcastsinclay or

wax

entirely satisfactory restorations are made.

Something may

be learned fromthe recovery ofimplements^ofspinning

and

weaving, but

up

^{to this} time the only relics secured are a few rather rude spindle whorls.

I shallpresentin the followingparagraphs suchportionsoftheavail- abledataas

seem

calculatedtoillustrate briefly

and

clearlythe nature of the ancientart.

Fabrics krom Cavks ani> Shklters.

At

an earlydate ⁱⁿ thehistory of thecountry reports

began

to

And

their

way

into print relating to the discovery of mortuaryfabrics in caverns and^shelters. Extractsfrom

some

of these publications

may

begiven.

From

the writing of

John

IIayw(tod liistorian of Tennessee,

we

have the following:

In the springoftheyear1811, w:isfoiuiiliu;icoi-iperascave iuWarreurounty, in

West ^Tennessee, ahout 15 milessouthwest from Sparta,and 20from McMinnville, the bodies of two human ^{beings, which had}been coveredbythe dirt or ore from which copperaswas made. One of these personswas a male,the other a female.

Theywere interredin baskets, made of cane, curiously wrought, and evidencing greatmechanic skill. They were both dislocated at the hipjoint,andwereplaced erect inthe baskets, withacoveringmadeofcanetofit the baskets iuwhichthey were^placed. Thefleshofthese personswasentireandnndecayed,of abrowndry- ish colour,produced by^time,theflesli having adheredcloselytothebonesandsin- ews. Aroundthe female,nexther body, wasplaced a well dressed deerskin. Next

to thiswasplacedarug,verycuriously wrought,of thebarkofatreeandfeathers.

The bark seemed to have been formed of small strands well twisted. Around each of these strands, featherswererolled,andthewholewovenintoa cloth oflirm texture, after the mannerofourcommon coarsefabrics. Thisrugwasabout^throe feetwide,and between sixand seven feet inlength. The wholeof theligaments thusframedofbark were completely covered withfeathers,formingabodyofabout oneeighth of aninchinthickness, the feathersextending about onequarter ofan inch inlength fromthestrand towhich they wereconfined. The^appearancewas highlydiversified by green, blue, yellowand black, presenting different shades of colourwhenreflected upon bytlie light indift'erentpositions. Thenextcovering wasanundressed deerskin,around whichwasrolled,ingoodorder,apl.ain shroud manufacturedafterthesameorderastheone ornameuted withfeathers. Thisarticle resembled verymuchinitstexture thebagsgenerallyusedforthepurposeof hold-

30 PREHISTORIC TEXTILE

ART. |etb.ann.13 ing^coffeeexportedfromHavannato theUnitedStates. Thefemalehadiuherhand a fan formed of the tail feathers ofa turkey. The points of these feathers were curiouslyboundbyabuckskinstring,well dressed,andwerethuscloselyboundfor about oneinchfromthepoints. Aboutthreeinchesfromthe pointthey were again bound,by anotherdeer skin string, insuch amannerthat the fan might beclosed andexpandedat pleasure. ^{• - •}

Thecaveinwhichtheywerefound,abounded in nitre, copperas,alum, andsalts.

The whole ofthis covering, withthe baskets,was perfectly sound, without any marksof decay.'

Therewas also a scoop net made ofbark thread; a mockasin madeof the like materials^; amat of the same materials, enveloping human bones, were found in saltpetre dirt,sis feetbelowthesurface. Thenet andother things mouldered on being exposedtothesun.-

In the year 1815 alemarkablyiuterestiug setofmortuaryfabrics

was

recoveredfromasaltpetercavenearGlasgow,Kentucky.

A

^letterfrom

Samuel

L. Mitchell, published

by

the Araericau Autiquarian Society, coutains thefoUowiugdescription ofthe condition of the

human

remains

and

of the nature of its coverings

:

Theouterenvelopeofthe bodyisadeerskin, probablydried in the usual way, and perhaps softened before its application, byrubbing. The next covering is a deerskin,whosehair hadbeencutawaybya sharpinstrument, resemblingahat- ter'sknife. The remnantof thehair,andthe gashesiutheskin,nearlyresemble the shearedpelt of beaver. Thenext wrapperof cloth ismadeoftwine doubled and twisted. Butthethreaddoesnot appeartohave been formedbythewheel,northe webbythe loom. Thewarp andfilling seemed tohave beencrossedandknotted by anoperationlikethat of the fabricks of thenorthwestcoast,andof theSandwich

islands. ^{- - *} Theiunerraost tegument isamantleof cloth like theprecediug;

butfurnishedwithlarge brown feathers,arrangedand fastenedwith great art, so as tobe capableof guarding the livingwearer fromwetandcold. The plumage^is

distinct and entire, andthe whole bears a near similitude tothe feathery cloaks

now^worn by the nations of thenorthwestern coastofAmerica.'

The Bureau

of Ethnology had thegoodfortuue to secure recently a

number

of representative pieces of burialfabricsof theclasses men- tionedinthe precedingextracts,

and somewhat

detaileddescriptions of these ^will sufficiently illustrate the art as practiced

by

the early inhabitants of themiddleportions of the country.

The

relicswhich have

come

into the possession of the

Bureau

were obtained iu 1885

by

Mr. A. J.McGill from a rockshelteron "Clifty"

orCliffCreek,

Morgan

county, Tennessee. Mr.J.

W. Emmert,

through

whom

^they were procured, reports that they were found in a grave 3J ^feetbelow the surfaceand in earth stronglycharged with niter

and

perhaps other preservative salts.

The more

pliable cloths, together with skeins of vegetal ^fiber, a dog's skull,

some

bone tools,

and

por- tions of

human

bones

and

hair, were^rolled

up

ina largesplit-canemat.

The

^grave

was

situated about as

shown

in the

accompanying

section (figure 4).

A

^shelf

^some

^{20 feetiu} width, with depressed floor, occurs

'Nat.and Abor.Hist, ofTean..John Haywood. Nashville,1823.pp.^163-165.

'Ibid., p. 62.

3Trans,andColl.Amer.Autiq.Sor. Worcester,1820, vol.I.pp.318, 319.

BUREAU OFETHNOLOGV THIRTEENTHANNUAL REPORT PL. ^lit

^^^^^^f-^,t

mm-'^mm

.'1

*

^•

m-m

V

^t':

mm

I

MANTLE OR SKIRT OF LIGHT-COLORED STUFF.

HOLMES]

FABRICS FROM

CAVES. 31