s became fixed. The study of these impressions led to meager
results until the idea was conceived of taking castings from them in
clay, wax, or paper; through this device the negative impression becomes
a positive reproduction and the fabrics are shown in relief, every
feature coming out with surprising distinctness; it is possible even to
discover the nature of the threads employed and to detect the manner of
their combination.

Evidence of the practice of textile arts by many ancient nations is
preserved to us by such implements of weaving as happened to be of
enduring materials; spindle-whorls in clay and stone are perhaps the
most common of these relics. These objects tell us definitely of the
practice of the art, but give little insight into the character of the
products. It is a notable fact that evidence of this class is almost
wholly wanting in the United States; spindle-whorls have in rare cases
been reported from southern localities, and a few writers have mentioned
their use by modern tribes.

It happens that in some cases we may learn something of the progress
made by vanished peoples in this art by a study of the forms of such of
their earthen vessels as were manifestly derived from baskets, or made
in imitation of them. The ornamental art of peoples well advanced in
culture often bears evidence of the influence of the system of
combination of parts followed originally in the textile arts, and little
art, ancient or modern, in which men have endeavored to embody beauty,
is without strongly marked traces of this influence. By the study of
archaic ornament embodied in clay, wood, and stone, therefore, the
archeologist may hope to add something to the sum of his knowledge of
ancient textiles. It should be noted that the pottery of the
mound-builders shows less evidence of the influence of textile forms
than does that of most other nations, and some groups of their ware
appear to present no recognizable traces of it whatever.

Although much information has been brought together from all of the
sources mentioned, it is not at all certain that we can form anything
like a complete or correct notion of the character and scope of the art
as practiced by the mound-builders. No doubt the finest articles of
apparel were often buried with the dead, but a very small fraction only
of the mortuary wrappings or costumes has been preserved, and from vast
areas once thickly inhabited by the most advanced tribes nothing
wha