204 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



origin has already been noted. This negative opinion is based on the 

 fact that no aboriginal tools have been found in such pits, nor have 

 any tool marks been observed on the limestone walls of such sites. 

 He does not agree with earlier statements that certain exposed lime- 

 stone areas show evidences of fire, and from the nature of the holes 

 themselves and the rubbish accumulated in them he does not believe 

 that they are quarry pits (1915 a, I, pp. 126-135). On the other hand, 

 he offers no alternative explanation as to the manner in which such 

 pits and trenches might have been formed through natural agencies. 



Since I have not investigated this matter specifically, I cannot pre- 

 tend to decide. However, from casual inspection of the northerly pits 

 just described, I do not see how they could have originated in any 

 other manner than through human activity. It is of course possible 

 that the longer trenches and smaller pits might have resulted from 

 the work of early white settlers seeking lime or stone for building 

 or riprapping along the river. Woodruff' states that during the early 

 settlement small limekilns were constructed for local use at the base 

 of steep hills and were charged with limestone from carts drawn by 

 a single horse. In one season at Weeping Water the product of two 

 such kilns amounted to 43,000 barrels. Such kilns were formerly 

 employed between Weeping Water and Nehawka but went out of 

 use many years ago. (E. G. Woodruff, 1906, pp. 209-211.) Although 

 this possibility of a relatively recent white origin for the quarry pits 

 must be considered, it seems rather unlikely in the face of statements 

 that the earliest settlers in the region reported the pits as present when 

 they first arrived. Bur oaks up to 15 inches in diameter also grow in 

 many of the pits." 



Moreover, if it be positively proved that the gray-blue speckled 

 flint is characteristic of the limestone beds in this vicinity, the presence 

 of artifacts of this material in the majority of prehistoric sites in 

 southeastern Nebraska is a strong argument in favor of regarding 

 these extensive pits as the source of such flint. Dr. Gilder is of the 

 opinion that the Nehawka quarries are of native origin and believes 

 that the trenches rather than the exposed limestone faces were mainly 

 utilized in getting the flint. In this regard he makes the following 

 interesting suggestion (communication from R. F. Gilder, November, 

 1930) : 



The hillside near the stream shows pits in the surface, around which is the 

 material taken therefrom. I judge these pits to have been up to 20 or more 

 feet in depth originally. It was from them the quarrymen obtained the nodules 



'" Todd, 1888, p. 374-375. Both Todd and Blackman, 1907 b, p. 108, mention 

 such trees, the latter showing a photograph of one of them, lower photograph 

 opposite p. 104. 



