24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 94 



A fragment of a thin ornament, possibly a perforated tablet, made 

 of schist was found near the center of the field. The surface is smooth 

 and has not become altered through exposure. 



The fragmentary pottery found on the site, characteristic examples 

 of which are shown in plate 7, is very uniform in texture and decora- 

 tion. Little if any tempering material had been added to the clay of 

 which the vessels were made. Some sherds reveal a small amount of 

 crushed quartz, but this may have been natural. The fragments on 

 the top row are bits of rims of vessels. Some specimens were cord- 

 marked, others appear to have been decorated by the use of a narrow 

 roulette. As shown in the illustration, the cords that had been im- 

 pressed upon the soft clay varied greatly in size ; some were no thicker 

 than a heavy thread, others were very coarse. The impression on the 

 small specimen a resembles that of a rigid coiled basket, closely woven 

 and very regular. 



Only very small fragments of pottery were discovered on the sur- 

 face ; consequently, it is not possible to determine either the size or 

 the form of the vessels. 



RIGHT HANK OF THE RAPPAHANNOCK FROM THE MOUTH OF THE 

 RAPIDAN TO RICHARDS FORD 



The junction of the two streams, however large or small they may 

 have been, was always a desirable location for a native settlement. 

 In a densely forested country, trails often followed the banks of 

 streams, and where it was possible to use canoes, the streams them- 

 selves served as lines of communication. Consequently, the junction 

 of two water courses afforded three distinct routes that led away 

 from the camp, or by which it could be approached. Fishing may also 

 have been better at or near the mouth of a tributary stream. 



In plate 8 is reproduced an aerial photograph made from high over 

 the Forest Hall site, looking up the Rappahannock, with the camera 

 pointing about due north. The mouth of the Rapidan is on the left, 

 and the farm on the right bank of the Rappahannock (on the left 

 in the view, which is looking up the river) is at Richards Ford, about 

 T mile above the mouth of the Rapidan. The small, rocky, V-shaped 

 island seen in the foreground may also be distinguished in plate 5, and 

 had the water not been so very high, other islands and ledges would 

 be visible in the channel of the river. It will be observed how great 

 a part of the country remains heavily timbered, although a section of 

 it now overgrown may, long ago, have been cleared and cultivated. 



A small clearing can be seen between the two rivers at the mouth 

 of the Rapidan. This was cultivated a few years ago, but when visited 



