292 STOCK-IN-TRAEE OF AN ABORIGINAL LAPIDARY. 



described by ine several years ago,* and the oval or leaf-shaped imple- 

 ments made of the peculiar hornstoue of " Flint Eidge," in Ohio. These 

 latter, which bear much resemblance to certain palaeolithic types of 

 Europe, were first noticed by Mr. E. G- Squier, who found, many years 

 ago, a large deposit of them in a low mound of "Clark's Work," iu Eoss 

 County, Ohio. An excavation, six feet long and four feet wide, disclosed 

 about six hundred specimens, which were standing edgewise, forming 

 two layers, one immediately above the other. The deposit extended 

 beyond the limits of the excavation on every side, and hence the actual 

 number of specimens has not become knowu.f Since that time deposits 

 composed of objects of corresponding shapes and of the same material 

 have been discovered, generally under the ground, iu Illinois, Wiscon- 

 sin, and Kentucky ; but the area of their distribution may be much 

 greater. Dr. J. F. Snyder has described the Illinois deposits iu the 

 Smithsonian Report for 187G4 That of Beardstown, in Cass County, 

 is of special interest. It contained about fifteen hundred leaf-shaped or 

 round implements, arranged in five horizontal layers, which were sepa- 

 rated by thin str-ata of clay. According to Dr. Snyder, another deposit, 

 said to have consisted of three thousand five hundred specimens, was 

 discovered in Fredericksville, Schuyler County, iu the same State. 

 Smaller subterranean deposits of flint arrow-heads, cutters, &c., have 

 been met with iu various States iu the eastern half of this continent, 

 the articles showing in many cases no traces of use whatever, and gen- 

 erally exhibiting a symmetrical order iu their arrangement. Such facts 

 naturally lead to the supposition that flint chipping formed a special 

 profession, and, furthermore, that the objects found iu these hiding- 

 places, or "caches", constituted the magazines of the aboriginal crafts- 

 men. The deposit of Clark's Work, it should be stated, has been thought 

 to owe its occurrence in a mound of peculiar structure to superstitious 

 or religious motives, and thus to partake cf a sacrificial character. 

 This view, however, whether correct or not, has no bearing on the point 

 in question, namely, the production of the chipped articles by way of 

 trade. 



The carved stone pipes, representing imitations of the human head, 

 of quadrupeds, birds, &c., which were found in great number by Messrs. 

 Squier and Davis iu a mound of the group called " Mound City," not 

 far from Chillicothe, Ohio, illustrate the highest development of early 

 aboriginal art iu this country.§ Their production required much skill 

 and patient endurance, and hence we may infer that the manufacture of 

 stone pipes formed iu past times a branch of industry which was chiefly 

 carried on by persons who possessed an extraordinary talent for this 



* A Deposit of Agricultural Flint Implements iu Southern Illinois, Smithsonian Report 

 for 1868, p. 401. 



i Squier and Davis : Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Washington, 1848, 

 p. 158; representations of the objects on p. 214. 



jDeiJOsits of Flint Implements, p. 433. 



^ Ancient Monuments, &c., ^. 242, &c. 



