Fig. 28.—Net from ancient pottery, North Carolina.
Nets were in use by the Indians of Florida and Virginia at the time of the discovery, and the ancient pottery of the Atlantic states has preserved impressions of innumerable specimens. The piece shown in figure 27 is from a small fragment of pottery picked up in the District of Columbia. 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. The net illustrated in figure 28 is from a specimen of North Carolina pottery. Netting of this class was still in use among the natives of the Chesapeake region when the English colonies were founded.
The lesson of the prehistoric textile art of eastern United States is simple and easily read, and goes far to round out the story of native occupation and culture. Colonial records furnish definite knowledge of the woven fabrics and weaving of the nations first encountered by the whites. Graves, mounds, and caves give us an insight into the pre-Columbian status of the art, and evidence furnished by associated industries which happen to echo features of the textile art contribute to our information. Charred cloths from the great mounds are identical in material, combination of parts, and texture with the fabrics of the simple savage. Cloths preserved by contact with copper implements and ornaments characteristic of the art of the builders of the mounds do not differ in any way from the humble work of the historic peoples. All tell the same story of a simple, primitive culture, hardly advanced beyond the grade separating the savage from the barbarous condition.
[51] Nat. and Abor. Hist. of Tenn., John Haywood. Nashville, 1823, pp. 163-165.
[52] Ibid., p. 62.
[53] Trans. and Coll. Amer. Antiq. Soc. Worcester, 1820, vol. 1, pp. 318, 319.
[54] Histoire de la Louisiane. Du Pratz. Paris, 1758, vol. II, p. 191.
[55] Histoire de la Louisiane, Du Pratz. Paris, 1758, vol. II, p. 193.
[56] Recent Archæological Discoveries in the American Bottom. Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, March 2, 1877, p. 208.