Yarn evidence from

The third fabric evidence from Etowah is attached to a copper plate, presumed to be an eagle dancer plate (No. 1156, Burial 110). Parts of it are pseudomorphic. In an area of the plate, one can observe dark fibers manipulated into yams. The yams are from only one system, and no obvious evidence of fabric structure is discernible. Nonetheless, the fibers are part of a re-plied or complex yam type. Two singles are plied in a Z-direction to form a two-ply yam. Then the yam is twisted with another two-ply yam in an S-direction the result is a re-plied yarn (Figure 13). For the most part the yarns contain single smooth fibers. In certain areas the yam has frayed and lost its re-plied configuration. Initial examination by scanning electron microscopy revealed downy barbules indicative of feathers on adjacent fibrous material. 

Fabric evidence from the earlier site, as represented by pseudo-morphs after fabric found on two copper earspools and a copper plate, is one of the simplest types of twining observed, namely, spaced twining. It can be seen on the upper surface of the earspool and on both surfaces of the plate from Mound C. Because no evidence indicated that yarn pseudomorphs had been dislodged, the original fabric structure is assumed to have consisted of spaced twining. The very nature of spaced twining requires action of the weft yams rather than those of the warp ... 

The emission spectrum of the irradiated PET yarn, when excited by 342 nm energy is totally dominated by the 460 nm emission, which has been attributed to the presence of mono-hydroxy-terephthalate, with only a shoulder as evidence of the residual fluorescence from the terephthalate units (Figure 9). 

While some of the Mississippian textiles are of similar structure to the Middle Woodland textiles, others are very complex materials and are lace-like in appearance. Many of the materials from Etowah are preserved by mineralization, and display green-colored deposits on their surfaces. Bast fiber, rabbit hair, and feathers have been identified (2, 11). The textiles from these two sites selected for analysis are representative of the complexity of structure and fineness of yarns seen in the materials they provide evidence of the sophisticated technology of prehistoric people in all phases of fiber collection, processing, yarn spinning, fabric manufacture and, when present, coloration. 

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. 

Of the three fabric examples from Etowah, the two with the more complicated yarn fabrication exhibit less in elaboration of fabric structures than does the one incorporating a simple two-ply, S-twist type of yam. Both the re-plied, feather-core-binder yam of No. 1145 and the eagle plate yam of No. 1156 give little evidence of complex fabric structure. In the feather-core-binder yarn, the clay encrustation obscures fabric structural information. And in the eagle plate yam, only the replied yam and an adjacent fibrous mat remain. 

On the other hand, the loose feathers identified from Etowah No. 1156 could have been spun at one time, but they come from a mat of fiberlike material on which no yam structures currently are evident. Their juxtaposition with the re-plied yam (perhaps of animal hair) presents an anomaly because descriptions (8,12) of other feather yarns do not include a re-plied yam without a bast core. The yam appears to be alike in all its parts. Its color, texture, and surface smoothness suggest an animal-hair fiber. 

The other major natural fiber type, silk, fits the evidence. It is the only natural filament, and as such requires no twisting to be translated into a yarn for weaving. Silk is exuded from two orifices on either side of the silkworm s head and forms single strands called brins. The two brins then come together as a have unit which is held in place by sericin (17). A silk filament is smooth and maintains a relatively straight trajectory with no crimp to its structure. 

The presence of yarn-type formations from two different systems interlacing in a perpendicular relation to each other confirms a formerly woven-fabric structure for the pseudomorphs. The evidence of the pseu-domorphic fibers, yarns, and fabrics confirms the former presence of silk fabrics on a Shang Dynasty bronze weapon. Further discussion and implications of these findings fall outside the purview of this investigation future work will focus upon an analysis of specific fabric structures present on Shang bronzes. 

Many structural adhesives are used as films carried by a fabric of textile or glass. This, of course, provides further interfacial surfaces but there is no evidence that wicking of the adhesive occurs either along these interfaces or between the individual filaments which form the yarn from which the cloth is woven. These facts follow from adhesion between adhesive and the carrier filaments and complete penetration of adhesive into the structure of the yam under the pressure and temperature of the curing process. Contrary to expectation the presence of the carrier usually interferes with the diffusion process, slowing it down as moisture diffuses less readily through the polymer of the yarn them through that of the adhesive. 

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