illustrations. I
present in plates VI and VII specimens of mound fabrics which, since
they were burned with the dead, undoubtedly formed part of the clothing
of the living or were wrappings of articles deposited with the bodies.
These coarse cloths may be considered as fairly representing the weaving
of the mound-builders. There are among them some finer examples of
weaving than those obtained from the caves and shelters of Tennessee and
Kentucky, but there is nothing specifically different in material or
methods of combination, and there is nothing whatever to suggest a
higher stage of culture than that of the historic Indian.

[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Sandal or moccasin from a Kentucky cave.]

The fiber is quite fine and is more probably of hemp than of the bark of
trees. The strands are generally well twisted and even, the twist being
in most cases to the right, or as if twisted on the thigh with a
downward movement of the right-hand, the thread being held in the left.
As in the case of cave fabrics as well as the work of the modern peoples
of the region, the weaving is nearly all in the twined style, of which
there are two varieties; one in which each strand of the web is in turn
inclosed simply by the woof twisted in pairs, and the other in which
alternate pairs of the web strands are inclosed by the twined pairs of
the woof. Cloths woven in the first method are often quite close, as the
woof threads are readily pressed or pounded down on one another entirely
hiding the web strands, giving a fabric of much compactness and
strength. The second variety is usually somewhat open and net-like, and
very often the pairs of twined woof strands are placed far apart, as
shown in several of the illustrations given in this paper. The finest
mesh observed is in the first of these styles, and includes about twenty
intersections to the inch.

From the Ohio mounds also there are examples of plain as well as of
diagonal interlacing. In appearance the cloth is much the same as that
done in the twined style. In a few cases a border or selvage of very
simple construction is seen. A looped margin for the passage of a
gathering cord is common.

In plate VI a number of bits of charred cloth are shown; being quite
black the camera fails to give them with clearness, but the drawings
presented in plate VII serve to make clear all details of the strands
and their combination. The charring has taken place in cremating the
dead, in the burn