URTICACEAE, Reichenb. (Nettle Family)
The nettle family is represented by three genera, Boehmeria, Urtica, and Laportea. Specimens of these three were encountered forty-eight times, so it seems to have been one of the most important families as a source of fibrous materials. The tissues were, almost without exception, treated before use.
The stingless nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica, L.) was used by practically all the Indian tribes covered by this survey. It was invariably more or less treated, with the possible exception of some twisted strands from the Bushwick Cave of Arkansas (MAIHF 19-4632). This cord appears to have been made by simply peeling the bark from the plant and twisting it. The Delaware used the same fiber in a wampum string (AMNH 50.1-1579), also in a burden strap (AMNH 50.1-1592). A Cherokee string used in a feather charm occurs in the collection of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. The handle of a Micmac curved knife (McGU H76) is fastened to the blade by wrapping with cord of this fiber. In the same museum there are two Iroquois wampum belts in which the strings for the beads are made from Boehmeria fiber. In the American Museum are two specimens of cord, one on a Micmac fish spear (50.1-7475) and the other the string to an Ojibway bow (50-6874A).
It is evident that raw Boehmeria fiber, properly treated, produces especially fine, soft, and strong material. It is easily distinguished from the fibers of the other members of the family by its smaller size, the shape of the cells, and their distribution when seen in cross-section. Both the Urtica and Laportea fibers are coarser and the ratio of length to width of the fiber is much greater. The lumen in all three is longer one way than the other, but is much more open in Boehmeria cylindrica than the other species.
The slender nettle (Urtica gracilis, Ait.) seems to have been a favorite source for all peoples from prehistoric to modern Indians. Its use extended from New England to Wisconsin. It was usually processed before use, except among some of the prehistoric peoples where it was merely twisted into cord. A bag from the caves of Tennessee (USNM 132255) is made from this fiber which has had some preliminary treatment. A modern Sauk and Fox bag (MAIHF 2-7911) shows complete preliminary processing. Some string in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University (A4109), is made from this plant; this is protohistoric material. The Hopewell culture of Ohio is represented by twelve specimens using this fiber, all of which show some preliminary treatment. A sample of cloth from a copper plate is representative (OSHAM 283). The cave and rock-shelter cultures of Ohio are represented, but here the fiber seems to have received little, if any, preliminary treatment prior to use (OSHAM 332-42).
The woods nettle (Laportea canadensis, L.) was most widely used of all of the Urticaceae, both before and after treatment. It was used by the Sauk and Fox for bags, after it had received thorough treatment. In the Milwaukee Public Museum is a bag (30260) made of this material, thoroughly treated before being twisted into fine cord. A string used for tying a spear point to a shaft is in the Ojibway collection of the American Museum (50-4748). The Iroquois used it to make burden straps (MAIHF 19-8895). Braided cloth from prehistoric Kentucky is represented by a specimen (56795) in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. The cave culture of Tennessee is represented in the United States National Museum by a shirt (132254) made from this fiber. The Hopewell culture of Ohio is well represented by fabrics in the Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Museum (957, is an example). The cave and rock-shelter culture of the same state employed this fiber to make twined cords as is exemplified by a cord (OSHAM 332-34). The cave and rock-shelter cultures of Arkansas used it for the manufacture of twisted cords as may be seen in a specimen (19-4630) in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation.
OBJECTS FROM SPIRO MOUND, OKLAHOMA
The well-known Spiro Mound, clearly prehistoric, furnished some examples of basketry, matting, cord, and cloth. The samples were sent to the writer by Mr. H. M. Trowbridge, Bethel, Kansas.
| 2716-C | Twisted fibers covered with feathers | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2716-H | Twisted fibers covered with feathers | Asimina triloba |
| 2717-C | Twisted fibers covered with feathers | Asimina triloba |
| 2717-G | Woody material with feathers attached | Asimina triloba |
| 2717-I&E | Twisted fiber mass | Asimina triloba |
| 2718-E | Twisted fiber mass | Asimina triloba |
| 2718-K | Bristle-like vegetable fiber | Nolina georgiana |
| 2719-J | Twisted vegetable fiber | Asimina triloba |
| 2721-A | Mat | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2721-S | Fragment of basketry | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2722-D | Twisted fiber | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2722-I | Twisted fiber covered with feathers | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2724-A | Twisted fiber covered with feathers | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2724-K | Fawn colored string | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2731 | Mat | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2782 | Copper stained rope | Asimina triloba |
| 2781 | Charred basket | Arundinaria tecta |
| 2783 | Fibers adhering to copper sheet | Arundinaria tecta |
A comparison of materials in prehistoric collections reveals an excess of animal materials in the artifacts from Spiro Mound. One gets the impression that in Spiro textiles strings of vegetable fiber are usually surfaced with hair or other animal materials to increase the softness of the product. This may account for the almost exclusive use of canebrake and pawpaw, both relatively coarse fibers used without preliminary treatment. A striking contrast is between the slipshod way of making string and the highly precise fine techniques of covering it with hair and feathers.
SUMMARY
This survey makes no pretension of being complete, but it is an adequate sampling of the fibers utilized by the Eastern Indians and illustrates their resourcefulness in exploiting the raw materials at hand. It is noticeable that they used a great variety of plants and that one of the determining properties or qualifications was the local abundance of a plant. There seems to have been a tendency to use the monocotyledonous plants and the bast from the trees for coarser work and the diocotyledonous herbaceous plants for the manufacture of finer cords and threads.
Several general points of interest are apparent from the comparative study of these prehistoric and historic plant materials.
1. The plant fibers used by the prehistoric people were rarely if ever treated before utilization, while among the modern Indians a high degree of skill has been attained in the preparation of the fibers before spinning.
2. There seems to have been some commercial interchange between the Northern and the Southern tribes, both in historic and prehistoric times. The occurrence of palmetto fibers in modern Mohawk and Potawatomi collections and the use of Nolina by the cave and rock-shelter people of Ohio, shows commerce.
3. It seems that most, if not all, of the materials utilized were wild plants for there was no discoverable evidence of the cultivation of these plants. Such evidence would be far from obvious since cultivation does not seem to improve the fibers in textile plants.
4. Among the prehistoric peoples the purposeful mixing of fibers was the rule. This is especially notable in the collections from Ohio and Arkansas. These mixtures of fibers occur both in the same strand and in the two-ply cords. It is not apparent why the fibers from different plants were mixed, but the combinations seem intentional, as nettle and milkweed, blue stem grass and pawpaw, nettle and yucca, basswood and nettle, and pawpaw and yucca. Yet, such intentional mixtures were rarely encountered in the historic collections examined.
5. It is apparent that the prehistoric peoples used such fibers as were adapted to their immediate purpose without previous treatment. They were stripped from the plant and twisted at once. This seems to account for the dominance of monocotyledonous fibers in prehistoric collections. The historic Indians, on the other hand, used a greater variety of species of fiber plants because they were able to prepare them properly before using. The determining factors seem to have been strength, fineness of fiber, and abundance of supply.
All the above observations are consistent with the assumption of a steady advance in textile skill and knowledge from prehistoric time to the present.
FIBER PLANTS AS IDENTIFIED
TABLE OF IDENTIFICATIONS
Selected objects in museum collections to show the range and frequencies in the use of vegetable fibers, including geographical and chronological distributions.
The objects from the Ohio State Historical and Archaeological Museum are all prehistoric. In other museums prehistoric objects are marked with an asterisk (*).