quality of material, willow for the basis of the coil, and plants in a variety of colors for the sewing. The Siamese coiled basketry has little of design on its surface, but the American basketmaker may fix whatever her imagination may suggest. The effect of the plain stitching is pleasing to the eye by reason of the regular broken surface. In America single-rod basketry is widely spread. Along the Pacific coast it is found in northern Alaska and as far south as the borders of Mexico. The Pomo Indians use it in some of their finest work. The roots of plants and soft stems of willow, rhus, and the like are used for the sewing, and being soaked thoroughly, can be crowded together so as to entirely conceal the foundation. (See Fig. 25.) . . .

D. Two-rod foundation.-One rod in this style lies on top of the other; the stitches pass over two rods in progress and under the upper one of the pair below, so that each stitch incloses three stems in a vertical series. A little attention given to Fig. 24D will demonstrate that the alternate rod, or the upper rod, in each pair will be inclosed in two series of stitches, while the other or lower rod will pass along freely in the middle of one series of stitches and show on the outer side. . . .3

F. Two-rod and splint foundation.-In this style the foundation is made thicker and stronger by laying two rods side by side and a splint or welt on top to make the joint perfectly tight. The surface will be corrugated. Tribes practicing this style of coiling generally have fine material and some of the best ware is so made up. (See Fig. 24F.) ...

The rod and welt foundation, which is illustrated in figure 24E, but whose description is not included here, passes easily into forms C, D, and F.

G. Three-rod foundation.-This is the type of foundation called by Carl Purdy bam shi bu, from bam, sticks, and sibbu, three. Among the Pomo and other tribes in the western part of the United States the most delicate pieces of basketry are in this style. Dr. Hudson calls them "the jewels of coiled basketry." The surfaces are beautifully corrugated, and patterns of the most intricate character can be wrought on them. The technic is as follows: Three or four small willow stems of uniform thickness serve for the foundation, as shown in Fig. 26; also in cross section in Fig. 24G. The sewing, which may be in splints of willow, black or white carex root, or cercis stem, passes around the three stems consti

tuting the coil, under the upper one of the bundle below, the stitches interlocking. In some examples this upper rod is replaced by a thin strip of material serving for a welt (see Fig. 24F). In the California area the materials for basketry are of the finest quality. The willow stems and carex root are susceptible of division into delicate filaments. Sewing done with these is most compact, and when the stitches are pressed closely together the foundation does not appear. On the surface of the bam shi bu basketry the Pomo weaver adds pretty bits of bird feathers and delicate pieces of shell. The basket represents the wealth of the maker, and the gift of one of these to a friend is considered to be the highest compliment..

...

H. Splint foundation.-In basketry of this type the foundation consists of a number of longer or shorter splints massed together and sewed, the stitches passing under one or more of the splints in the coil beneath.

In the Pomo language it is called chilo, but it has no standing in that tribe. In the Great Interior Basin, where the pliant material of the California tribes is wanting, only the outer and younger portion of the stem will do for sewing. The interior parts in such examples are made up into the foundation. All such ware is crude, and the sewing frequently passes through instead of around the stitches below. In the Klikitat basketry the pieces of spruce or cedar root not used for sewing material are also worked into the foundation. (See Fig. 24H.)

In a small area on Fraser River, in southwestern Canada, on the upper waters of the Columbia, and in many Salishan tribes of northwestern Washington, basketry, called imbricated, is made. The foundation, as said, is in cedar or spruce root, while the sewing is done with the outer and tough portion of the root; the stitches pass over the upper bundle of splints and are locked with those underneath. On the outside of these baskets is a form of technic, which also constitutes the ornamentation. It is not something added, or overlaid, or sewed on, but is a part of the texture effected in the progress of the manufacture. (See Fig. 27.)

The method of adding this ornamentation in strips of cherry bark, cedar bast, and grass stems, dyed with Oregon grape, is unique, and on this account I have applied the term "imbricated" to the style of weave here shown.

The strip of colored bark or grass is laid down and caught under a passing stitch; before another stitch is taken this one is bent forward to cover the last stitch, doubled on itself so as to be underneath the next stitch, and so with each one it is bent backward and forward so that the sewing is entirely concealed, forming a sort of "knifeplaiting."

...

1. Grass-coil foundation.-The foundation is a bunch of grass or rush stems, or small midribs from palm leaves, or shredded yucca. The effect in all such ware is good, for the reason that the maker has perfect control of her material. Excellent examples of this kind are to be seen in the southwestern portions of the United States, among the Pueblos and Missions, and in northern Africa. The sewing may be done with split stems of hard wood, willow, rhus, and the like, or, as in the case of the Mission baskets in southern California, of the stems of rushes (Juncus acutus) or stiff grass (Epicampes rigens). (See the cross section given in Fig. 241.) In the larger granary baskets of the Southwest a bundle of straws furnishes the foundation, while the sewing is done with broad strips of tough bark. . . .

...

K. Fuegian coiled basketry.—In this ware the foundation is slight, consisting of one or more rushes; the sewing is in buttonhole stitch or half hitches, with rush stems interlocking. The resemblance of this to Asiatic

types on the Pacific is most striking. (See Fig. 28.)

29. FLINT WORKING BY ISHI1

By NELS C. NELSON

INTRODUCTORY

The very ancient art of producing implements from flint and allied stone substances by means of a fracturing process, though practised almost the world over, seems to have reached a really high state of perfection in only three localities, namely, Egypt, Denmark with adjoining parts of Scandinavia, and the Pacific coast of the United States. To be sure, choice bits of workmanship are to be found elsewhere, as for example in France and in Mexico, but these appear to be exceptions rather than the rule.

Just why these seemingly sporadic occurrences of excelling technique should be localized as they are is an interesting question because the manual dexterity implied might with reason have been looked for elsewhere, unless we at once yield the point that such dexterity is not a gift peculiar to any branch of mankind or, in other words, that the human factor is not the only factor concerned. For the present therefore the archaeologist in attempting to explain these isolated appearances of highly cultivated flint technique can do little more than suggest that they were conditioned to some extent at least by two interdependent factors, the first being the presence of unlimited amounts of raw material and the other a grand scale of manufacture. The larger the output and the larger the number of artisans at work the greater the possibility of an expert an artist-whose technique, once perfected, stood some chance of being copied and handed down.

If the archaeologist is asked about the elements of the technique itself he is somewhat better informed. It is true he cannot state precisely how the exquisite knife-blades of early predynastic Egypt or the shapely daggers of Scandinavia were produced, but the methods involved in the making of a "Stockton curve" or any other delicately worked object to be found in the Pacific states is fairly well known. Methods of flint chipping have been observed and recorded in many places, especially in America, from the days of John Smith and Torquemada down to Catlin, Schumacher, and still others of recent date. In addition to these observa

1 Originally printed in the Holmes Anniversary Volume, Washington, 1916, pages 397-402..