A COLLECTION OF STONE IMPLEMENTS FROM THE DISTRICT 

 OF COLUMBIA. 



BY 



S. V. Proudfit, 



Department of the Interior. 



(With plates x-xiv.) 



The collection of stone implements from the District of Columbia 

 and its environs, which is herewith presented to the Smithsonian 

 Institution as an addition to the donation of December 22, 1887, is the 

 result of personal work in the field. It was not made with a premedi- 

 tated donative intent, but has grown by degrees until the collector no 

 longer feels justified in claiming or exercising the right of sole owner- 

 ship therein. In the hands of the Institution it will not only be ac- 

 cessible to others who are interested in such matters, but will probably 

 draw to it further contributions from the same area, and thus serve a 

 better purpose than it possibly could in private possession. 



The collection is fairly typical of the aboriginal work as it is now found 

 in the fields of the District. The greater part of the large stone imple- 

 ments had found its way into public and private collections long before 

 this one began, hence the number of polished implements now offered 

 is comparatively small. Yet, while this is true, a sufficient number of 

 these implements have been found to fairly exhibit the degree of skill 

 attained by the Potomac Indian in this class of work. 



A tribute here to the handicraft of this people is not misplaced. 

 The material with which they wrought was the most obdurate and 

 refractory of all substances found available to any considerable degree 

 among the American Indians. Quartz, quartzite, and argillite for 

 the greater part were used from necessity, no better material being 

 within reach. The first two are very hard, and in the hand of the work- 

 man full of unpleasant surprises. A long, slender flake, such as might 

 be easily driven off from a mass of flint or obsidian, could be but with 

 great difficulty produced from the bowlder or pebble of the Potomac grav- 

 els. The argillite, though softer, is not susceptible of receiving or retain- 

 ing any high degree of finish. Notwithstanding these obstacles the 

 material was treated with such patience, care, and skill, that the work 

 of this region, not only in matters of utility but in points of finish 

 compares favorably with that of any other. 



Proceedings United States National Museum, Vol. XIII— No. 810. 



187 



