184 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



My own contribution to the study of this interesting spot was the 

 discovery of an ancient graveJ on the nearly level top of a rounded 

 knoll some 40 or 50 feet above the upper quarry face. I happened to 

 observe the broken edge of a soapstone platter projecting above the 

 hard soil. In removing this specimen other objects were brought to 

 light. Remnants of a skull and jawbone and numerous bones of the 

 trunk were found, but all were so near the surface that they had been 

 more or less dissociated and broken up. There were also parts of 

 three or four steatite vessels, one small pot, a round shallow dish, two 

 oblong dishes, and a liattish oblong plate with squared end, probably 

 a baking plate. Other articles were evidently mere burial offerings 

 made for the purpose and doubtless symbolic. They include a steatite 

 hook of a form common in the region, a miniature pestle of steatite, 

 a peculiar object, apparently a much conventionalized fish or finback 

 whale, three handles of steatite utensils, apparently dipper handles, an 

 obsidian arrow point, and some much decayed shell ornaments. A 

 number of these objects are shown in Plate 47. 



The relation of the grave to the quarry face is shown in Plate 48. 

 The figure in the foreground represents my companion engaged in 

 exploring the grave, and the worked soapstone surface is behind him = 

 at the right. Beyond are the rugged cliffs, with a bit of the sea 

 visible at the left. 



My study of this site was far from exhaustive, but I gained the 

 impression that the ancient occupation had extended over a very long 

 period. This must be the case if the vast number of utensils found in 

 the region have had their origin in these quarries. I observed that 

 the phenomena are practically identical with those of soapstone quar- 

 ries of the east. 



In a rock shelter some 200 yards southeast of the quarry examined, 

 1 found evidence of ancient occupation. Deposits of kitchen-midden 

 refuse cover the slope below, and in these were man}'- abalone shells 

 and some rude stone utensils, the latter including a flattish spatulate 

 stone, one end of which was covered with asphaltum, as if used for a 

 trowel in appl3ang the liquid material. 



Santa Catalina Island is extremely rugged and picturesque, and thei 

 coast is in large part inaccessible, but there are a number of small 

 baj's and inlets about the inner margins of which there is land enough 

 to accommodate small settlements. One of the most favorable locali- 

 ties for a native village was at the point called the Isthmus, about 14 

 miles north of Avalon, where the opposite shores approach within a 

 few hundred yards, and there is a low pass, not 20 feet in elevation, 

 between the opposing beaches. The upper view in Plate 49 looks 

 from this pass outward toward the Pacific, and the lower picture shows 

 the opposite side turning toward the north. The houses in the latter 

 view were occupied at the time of my visit, but I have learned from 



I 



