NO. 10 NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY — STRONG 203 



chipped point is a unique type, whereas the small oval knife or side 

 scraper finds analogues in hoth the Nebraska culture and in arti- 

 facts from prehistoric Republican River ossuaries and house sites. 

 The fact that at Long's Hill Gilder (ibid., p. 65) found similar burials 

 with pottery and artifacts closely similar to those from the nearby 

 Nebraska culture earth lodges suggests a possible affiliation with this 

 culture. 



Close to the mounds are the three almost continuous trenches or 

 quarry pits shown in Dr. Gilmore's sketch map (fig. 27, A, B, B'), and 

 there are other similar trenches (not indicated on the map) along 

 the ridges both to the east and to the west. The present appearance 

 of trench A (fig. 27) is shown in plate 20, figure 3. This section 

 differs in its rounded, washed-in contours from trenches B and B', 

 which have both bottom and sides covered with rough limestone slabs. 

 As the underlying limestone almost reaches the surface all along 

 these ridges the covering alluvial soil here is rather thin. According 

 to Todd,*" the limestone near Nehawka occurs in three separate strata, 

 of which the middle stratum alone contains masses of flint. Whether 

 such is the case at this northern site I do not know. Blackman has 

 made a partial survey of the Nehawka " quarries " and reports 293 

 distinct pits, covering something over 14 acres *^ in that immediate 

 vicinity. He describes the flint nodules from the limestone near 

 Nehawka as a unique type, being bluish gray in color and containing 

 certain distinct fossils.*^ It has a peculiar speckled appearance which, 

 according to Woodruff (1906, p. 193), is due to the presence of small 

 particles of opal in the flint. Although I cannot personally vouch 

 for the restricted occurrence of this gray-blue speckled flint in the 

 limestone of the Nehawka district, there is certainly an abundance of 

 such material in practically all aboriginal sites in southeastern Ne- 

 braska. It is very common in prehistoric sites from Cass County, and 

 throughout the present paper I have referred to it as " Nehawka " 

 flint. The occurrence of artifacts and chips of this material in mound 

 2 has been mentioned, and similar chips and fragments were also 

 noted in the assumed quarry trenches nearby. 



The fact that Sterns, on the basis of personal investigation, does 

 not believe that the so-called quarries near Nehawka are of human 



*" 1888, p. 375. Blackman, 1907 b, p. 104, makes a similar statement. 



" 1905, p. 3. Later, 1907 b, p. 104, he states that if the Nehawka mines were 

 placed side by side it is estimated that they would extend i mile. One pit cross- 

 sectioned was 10 feet deep and passed through three ledges of limestone rock. 



*^ 1905, p. 9, 1907 b, p. 104. Blackman also reports similar limestone and flint 

 nodules from western Iowa. 



