THE USE OF SOAPSTONE BY THE INDIANS 

 OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES 



By David I. Bushneix, Jb. 



[With 10 plates] 

 INTRODUCTION 



Steatite, generally called soapstone, is a variety of talc usually of 

 a gray, grayish green, or brownish color. It varies in hardness 

 according to its purity and composition and occurs in many localities 

 from Georgia and Alabama in the south to the New England States, 

 thence northward to the Arctic coast, and in Newfoundland. The 

 composition and physical properties of soapstone vary greatly : ^ 



Soapstone, properly speaking, is a massive rock, the chief mineral component 

 of which is talc, usually present in suflScient quantity to give the rock a soapy 

 feel. The term "soapstone" is sometimes incorrectly applied to massive talc. 

 The composition of soapstone is exceedingly variable and its talc content may 

 be as low as 50 percent. In fact, many soft, easily cut rocks in which chlorite 

 predominates over talc are loosely called soapstone. Ordinarily, a soapstone of 

 good quality contains, in addition to talc, varying amounts of chlorite, tremo- 

 lite, pyroxene, magnetite, quartz, calcite and dolomite. Melting point, 1,350° 

 to 1,400° C. 



Soapstone was exposed on the surface in innumerable localities, and 

 being so widely distributed and so easily obtained, was utilized by 

 the Indians wherever found. In some instances pieces were removed 

 from small, exposed masses; but in many localities, where the soap- 

 stone was of a proper quality and was well suited to the wants and 

 requirements of the people, the work of quarrying continued over a 

 long period and as a result a quarry workshop covering hundreds of 

 square feet was developed. Sites have been discovered where quanti- 

 ties of broken, partly finished vessels were intermingled with pieces 

 of unworked stone which had been removed from the quarries. Fin- 

 ished vessels are not encountered at the quarry workshops, but frag- 

 ments of them are frequently recovered from ancient village sites, 

 often far distant from the probable source of the material. 



The age of the soapstone vessels, or rather the period to which 

 they belonged, has not been definitely determined. This, and other 



* Ladoo, Raymond B., Non-Metallic Minerals. New York, 1025. 



471 



