58 BULLETIN 183, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



such relatively soft materials as sandstone and limestone were utilized. 

 Neither diabase nor quartzite is native to this portion of the Missouri 

 valley, but both occur locally in boulders in the glacial drift. Most 

 or all of the sandstone is dark reddish brown or yellowish in color, 

 rather coarse-grained, friable when rubbed, and of excellent abrad- 

 ing quality. I suspect that it is probably assignable to the Creta- 

 ceous Dakota formation. This horizon outcrops over a large area 

 in the Smoky Hills and Blue Hills in north-central Kansas, 120 to 

 150 miles, airline, west and northwest of the Renner site. Via the 

 Kansas, Blue, and Republican Rivers, these deposits could have 

 been reached on foot by a journey of approximately 175 to 200 miles. 

 Whether nearer sources of the material are available I do not know. 

 Limestone, of which little use seems to have been made, was available 

 in unlimited quantities along the bluffs of the Missouri River. 



Axes are represented by four specimens: Two finished, one unfui- 

 ished, the fourth fragmentary. Of these, only the last two were 

 excavated by our party. The largest and best example (pi. 19, a) is 

 from the west edge of the new highway slab ca. 50 yards west of the 

 Renner residence. It was found by highway workers, while setting 

 forms just prior to pouring the slab, and was immediately brought 

 to us with traces of the enclosing native soil still adhering. It meas- 

 ures 185 by 105 by 67 mm. and weighs 4i/^ pounds. The slightly dam- 

 aged poll is rounded, and the cutting edge, 60 mm. long, is nicked 

 from use. In transverse cross section the shape is quadrilateral, with 

 the wide surfaces bulging or convex. The groove is 24-28 mm. wide 

 and about 7 mm. deep, with a very slight bead or flange on each 

 side. The ungrooved fourth side is flat and smooth. The entire 

 surface, though nicked or slightly uneven in spots, has been carefully 

 ground down, and the blade is polished. A much smaller ax, found 

 during the preliminary grading of the highway cut prior to our ar- 

 rival, was presented by H. M, Kleifeld, superintendent of construc- 

 tion. Its dimensions are : Length, 88 mm. ; width, 58 mm. ; thickness, 

 88 mm. The poll is flattened, with a slight worn depression; the 

 blade is badly battered and now lacks a definite cutting edge, so that 

 the original length of the piece is uncertain. There is a shallow 

 groove on three sides; the fourth is slightly depressed or hollowed 

 lengthwise. In cross section this ax is a little flatter than the first. 

 Though it is well made and shaped (pi. 19, 6), the surface retains 

 the pecked or dimpled texture that final grinding and polishing have 

 obliterated in the larger ax. 



From square 70E1, at a depth of 20 inches, came the specimen illus- 

 trated in plate 19, c. It measures 97 mm. in length and has every 

 appearance of being an unfinished ax. The curved blade is thick and 

 blunt, never having been ground to a cutting edge. There is no 

 groove, nor has the surface been finished through grinding. In shape 



