Pseudomorphs after textiles

Photomicrography and Statistical Sampling of Pseudomorphs after Textiles... 

Archaeological textiles occasionally occur in forms that mislead the analyst. The mineralized fabric evidence known as pseudomorphs after fabric is one such form. Fabric remains may be recovered in pieces crumpled together and may exhibit pronounced structural variation. In such instances, one cannot rely on a series of tests from one area of the fabric to identify characteristics of the entire fabric. 

Of 101 sampling units drawn, 11 revealed no pseudomorphs after fabrics present, and two points had pseudomorphic evidence that could not be identified because of blurring of the photomicrograph. Only the remaining 88 location points yielded textile information. 

Just as baffling is the presence of pseudomorphs after feathers in conjunction with spaced weft twined fabric and fine yams yet, no interworking of feathers into either fabric or yam structures could be ascertained. The significance of the feathers is pertinent here. Their position only on the underside of the plate near its center may mean that the feathers were placed there for a special mortuary purpose and bear no relation to the fabric. On the other hand, the pseudomorphs after feathers could be part of one of the fabrics, surviving only because of their association with the copper. Fabric, feathers, and copper plate may be parts of ceremonial garb. The ornaments were not placed next to the skeleton, but rather they were beneath its remains and separated from it by soil fill. Church (18) also points out the presence of textiles or preserved textiles adhering to copper plates found on chest or loins of human remains in the Ohio Hopewell finds. She does not mention feathers as part of the plate-textile finds. Scholtz (12) has found feathers used in yams recovered from the Ozark Bluff shelters, but the manipulation of the feathers appears to be closer to the Etowah fabric No. 1145 than to the feather pseudomorphs of Tunacunnhee. 

---