NO. 8 MANAHOAC TRIBES IN VIRGINIA BUSH NELL 25 



during the autumn of 1934, it was overgrown, and the surface could 

 not be examined. However, along the margin of the higher ground, 

 facing the Rappahannock and less than 20 feet from it, fragments 

 of pottery and several quartz points were discovered in a stratum about 

 I foot below the present surface. This indicates the exposed surface 

 at one period of occupancy ; the superstratum of sand was deposited 

 by the river during some great freshet. The level area is not more 

 than 2 acres in extent, bounded by the rivers and a cliff, and this, 

 when carefully examined, should prove of exceptional' interest. 



Cliffs face the Rappahannock from Richards Ford and beyond to 

 the mouth of the Rapidan. They reach the right bank of the river 

 just above the ford, but a short distance below the crossing the low 

 ground, between the foot of the cliff and the river bank, is about 250 

 feet wide. Much of the low ground is not visible in the photograph, 

 plate 8, as it is screened by a fringe of trees and brush along the bank, 

 overhanging the water. 



A vertical aerial view of the river and adjacent land at the ford is 

 reproduced in plate 9, figure i. Several large islands in the river just 

 above the ford are not included in the picture. The house near the 

 upper left corner is on a plateau some 50 feet higher than the river, 

 but the cultivated field, on the right bank of the Rappahannock and 

 extending beyond the area shown in the photograph, rises only a few 

 feet above the normal stage of the river and was under water during 

 the flood of September 1934. The fragmentary pottery shown in 

 plate 9 was found on the surface of the field a few days after the 

 waters had receded, and may be briefly described : 



Specimen a appears not to be a fragment of a vessel, but suggests 

 a piece of wet clay that had been accidentally pressed on a woven 

 bag or a piece of niatting. It is flat on both sides, very porous, and 

 of a light reddish color. The textile, as restored, is shown natural 

 size in figure 6. The long elements resemble a grass or some other 

 vegetal fiber that had not been twisted, and these were held together 

 by tightly twisted cords. 



Three specimens, b, bear the impression of nets. That on the largest 

 fragment is clearly defined, and a double impression of the net appears 

 on part of the surface. The meshes were about one quarter inch 

 square, knotted at the crossing of the cords. The nets used on the 

 other two specimens had much smaller meshes, and the impressions 

 are less distinct. The two pieces c were probably similar to the three 

 preceding, but the surfaces have become smoothed, either intentionally 

 or as the result of use and wear. The color of all is brownish. The 

 very small quantity of crushed quartz intermixed with the clay may 



