"the woof is made of two strands, crossing the warp in such a manner that the strands alternate in passing, over and under it, and at the same time inclosing two alternate strands, of the latter, making a letter X figure of the warp, united at the center of the X by the double strands of the woof."
It should be noticed that the series of cords called the woof by Professor Putnam are designated as warp in my own descriptions. The illustration shows a fabric identical with that given in the upper figure of [Plate XXXIX], and the description quoted describes perfectly the type of fabric under consideration.
This method of weaving is still practiced by some of the western tribes, as may be seen by a visit to the national collection.
A somewhat complicated arrangement of the threads may be seen in the fabric shown in Fig. 97. It is clearly only a variation of the combination just described. The manner in which the threads pass over, under, and across each other can be more easily understood by reference to the figure than by any description. It comes from one of the Northwest coast tribes.
| Fig. 97.—Modern fabric, Northwest coast. |
[FOURTH GROUP.]
A fourth form of fabric, illustrated in Fig. 98, is of very rare occurrence on our fictile remains.
| Fig. 98.—Diagonal fabric, ancient pottery of Tennessee. |
It is a very neatly woven diagonal from the ancient pottery of Polk County, Tennessee. Two series of cords have been interwoven at right angles to each other, but so arranged as to produce a diagonal pattern. One series of the cords is fine and well twisted, the other coarser and very slightly twisted.
The remarkable sample of matting shown in Fig. 99 is from a small piece of pottery from Alabama. It has been worked in the diagonal style, but is somewhat different from the last example. It has probably been made of rushes or heavy blades of grass.