51 

 ON HUMAN RELICS IN THE DRIFT OF OHIO. 



E. E. MASTERMAN, NEW LONDON, O. 



That man existed in Europe during glacial times is not 

 disputed, and there is some evidence already obtained which 

 tends to show that he may have even preceded the ice on 

 that continent. But very few instances are yet known 

 which indicate that he lived in North America at an equally 

 early date. Of these few several have come to light in 

 Ohio, and in the present note I wish to add another to this 

 short list. 



When engaged in digging a well in 1886, on the farm 

 of Mr. E. Chapin, abput a mile east of New London, I found 

 at the depth of 22 feet a well formed grooved axe, made of 

 the banded slate so common in the glacial drift. 



At the time I thought nothing of its possible value to 

 archaeology, but its extreme lightness attracted my atten- 

 tion. Its dimensions are 4 in. in length, 2 in. in width, and 

 i^ in. in thickness. Its weight is only 5}^ ounces. 



In digging the well I passed through eight feet of firm 

 clay, yellow above and blue below, containing small stones. 

 Under this were 13 feet of silty clay, very tough, extremely 

 so near the base. I needed a pickaxe to excavate it. In- 

 terbedded in this clay were fine streaks of sand, one or two 

 inches thick, and at the bottom a foot of coarse gravel, yield- 

 ing water and containing small sufcangular stones. I then 

 bored down about 26 feet in the bottom of the well with an 

 auger, but found only the same material throughout. 



In the upper yellow clay, at four feet from the surface, I 

 also found a small arrow point of white flint. The axe was 

 firmly bedded in the clay, re quiring some careful manipula- 

 tion with the fingers for its removal. 



My attention was first called to its archaeological interest 

 by Dr. Wm. Kepler, and later I placed it in the hands of Dr. 



