In Fig. 103 we have a thoroughly satisfactory restoration from a small fragment of pottery picked up in the District of Columbia.  It is shown a little larger than natural size in the drawing.  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.  It is a noteworthy fact that in one of these specimens an incised pattern has been added to the surface of the soft clay after the removal of the net.

Recent collections from the mounds of Western North Carolina have brought to light many examples of net-marked pottery.  Generally the impressions are quite obscure, but enough can be seen in the cast to show clearly the character of the fabric.  The restoration given in Fig. 104 represents an average mesh, others being finer and others coarser.  Another specimen from the same collection is shown in Fig. 105.  The impression is not very distinct, bat there is an apparent doubling of the cords, indicating a very unusual combination.  It is possible that this may have come from the imperfect imprinting, but I can detect no indications of a shifting of the net upon the soft clay.

  [Illustration:  Fig. 103.—­From ancient pottery, District of
  Columbia.]

  [Illustration:  Fig. 104.—­Net from the pottery of North Carolina.]

  [Illustration:  Fig. 105.—­Net from the pottery of North Carolina.]

Many interesting examples could be given, both from the ancient and modern work of the inhabitants of the Pacific coast, but for the present I shall content myself by presenting a single example from the Lake Dwellings of Switzerland (Fig. 106): 

[Illustration:  Fig. 106.—­Net from the Swiss Lake Dwellings.  Keller,
plate, CXXX.]

Miscellaneous forms.

The forms of fabrics used by the ancient tribes of the Middle and Northern Atlantic States in the manufacture and ornamentation of their pottery have differed materially from those used in the South and West.  As a rule the fragments are smaller and the impressions less perfectly preserved.  The fabrics have been more complicated and less carefully applied to the vessel.  In many cases the impressions seem to have been made from disconnected bands, belts, or strips of cloth.  Single cords, or cords arranged in groups by rolling on sticks, or by other contrivances, have been extensively employed.  Baskets have doubtless been used, some of which have been woven, but others have apparently been of bark or skin, with stitched designs of thread or quills.  Some of the impressions suggest the use of woven vessels or fabrics filled up with clay or resin, so that the prominences only are imprinted, or otherwise cloths may have been used in which raised figures were worked.