Tunacunnhee site

Although both sites are in the same geographic area (Figure 1), they differ greatly in age and cultural expression. The Tunacunnhee site, dated A.D. 150 95 years, represents the Hopewell tradition (I), whereas Etowah, in use between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1400, is considered to be of the Middle Mississippian period (7). Taken together, the two sites and their fabrics provide evidence of the kinds of materials produced and used by certain prehistoric people of the region. Both sites are expressions of major cultural traditions in southeastern North America, and both contain direct fabric evidence. These facts underscore the importance of... 

Three copper objects from the Tunacunnhee site with pseudomorphs after fabric adhering to their surfaces were selected for analysis. These were the copper plate, one set of earspools from Mound C (F-30), and a copper earspool from Mound E (F-33). 

Jefferies, R. W. The Tunacunnhee Site Evidence of Hopewell Interaction in Northwest Georgia Anthropological Papers of the University of Georgia No. 1 University of Georgia Athens, Georgia, 1976 p. 1-3, 9-11, 14-15. 

Types of twined fabric structures composed of bast or phloem fibers and feathers were identified in prehistoric fabrics of southeastern North America by chemical and physical analyses and technical fabrication studies. Fabrics and either partially or completely mineralized pseudomorphs after fabric from the Tunacunnhee and Etowah sites in Georgia (dated respectively A.D. 150 95 years and about A.D. 1200) were examined. The work confirms the presence of at least two types of twined structures for the earlier Hopewell site and intricately constructed re-plied yarns and twined fabric for the later Mississippian one. The study of fabrics from both sites provides evidence of the kinds of materials produced and used by prehistoric peoples of the region during a 1000-year interlude. 

Fabrics used by the ABORIGINAL PEOPLE of southeastern North America have not been studied extensively. Small fragments of cordage, fabrics, and matting have been recorded from various prehistoric sites in the region (1-4), but analytical and synthesizing efforts have focused on matters other than the study of these pieces or the study of their cultural implications. Because fabrics are manufactured and used by people, their examination can reveal information about those who produced them. A first step, however, is the analysis of fabric as fabric. The purpose of this project is this first step to characterize selected examples of direct fabric evidence from the Tunacunnhee and Etowah sites in Georgia. 

Figure 1. Map of region containing Tunacunnhee and Etowah sites.

The discovery of pseudomorphs after spaced weft twining from the Tunacunnhee Burial Mounds site is not surprising. Twining as a structural process is widespread in America (3,8,12,16,17), and spaced weft twining is represented in a number of sites (16, 17). Furthermore, Jefferies (I) notes the presence of a bag in which the Mound C ornaments were coated. Initial photographs made of the objects in situ suggest that their spaced weft twining covered all the objects. Pseudo-... 

Further analysis of the fabrication techniques employed in the production of these examples also is necessary. The Etowah bundle, for example, should be unfolded, while using correct conservation methods, and its structure should be subjected to detailed scrutiny. Only then can its relation to the fragments from the same burial on display in the Etowah Mound Museum and other Mississippian fabrics be known. When more data about the phenomenon of fabric pseudomorphism are obtained, then questions associated with the Tunacunnhee objects can be answered. Certainly the relationship between alternate-pair twined fabric found in both sites in Georgia deserves further study. 

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