Of the basketry of the Mississippi valley there are, of course, no ancient specimens. Wicker-work would not last long in that climate; but there must have been baskets and plaited implements of various kinds, because people do not make pottery without passing through the basketry stage. The Amerinds of that region also made good baskets when first met with, and we know that they did some fairly good weaving both in ancient and modern times. Some of the ancient fabrics have been preserved in the mounds by contact with copper, by being charred, and in other ways, and the ingenuity of Holmes has given us fac-similes of some of the old netting.[89] He noticed curious markings on certain fragments of pottery, and took clay casts of them, thus producing positive from negative, and revealing the fact that the peculiar markings were the impressions of fabrics. He believes these fabrics were impressed on the ware for purposes of ornament, and while this may in some instances have been the reason, in my opinion, the chief object of the netting that made the impression was to lift the freshly made jar out of a hole or a wicker form where it had been modelled. Very early pottery was doubtless built on or in wicker-work—that is, early in the practice of any particular tribe. This was specially the case with the Amerinds of the Atlantic coast, as is plainly indicated in the casts made by Holmes from fragments of pottery from that region. “The earlier potters probably used baskets that came up to the curved-in part of the jar, which was continued above the basket by deft handling, or, if a basket of the same form was followed, the basket was destroyed in the firing process. This would seem to the modern mind a great waste of time and material, but it must be remembered that the Indian potter had not learned modern haste, and besides could turn up a coarse basket in a very short time. Therefore it does not seem improbable that he may, in the early stages, have modelled his jar on the _inside_ of a basket frame of similar form and then allowed the basket to be consumed in the baking process when it could not be separated from the vessel. Even when he developed to a point beyond and modelled the upper portions with a free hand, he would find great trouble in separating his jar from its framework. What, therefore, would be the following step? It seems to me it would have been the placing between the clay and the mould of a piece of netting, which would permit him to lift out his jar easily and intact, and transport it to the drying place. He would then speedily discover that his basket was not necessary—was not so serviceable, in fact, as a hole in the ground, for the sides of the hole could be plastered with a layer of very sandy clay, and thus would all sticking of the vessel to its mould be avoided. The netting, or fabric, having been spread as evenly as possible over the inside surface of the mould hole, the upper edges were allowed to lie out upon