NO. 12 



MONACAN TOWNS IN VIRGINIA BUSHNELL 



37 



small amount of the stone was visible, or projected through the thick 

 vegetal mold which had formed since the quarries were last used by 

 the Indians (pi. 13). 



Many broken, unfinished vessels were discovered in the vicinity of 

 the pits. These had been fractured in the process of making and 

 abandoned as useless. Consequently this was not only a quarry but 

 a workshop, where the vessel was fashioned in the rough, later to be 

 smoothed and polished. 



That two tyi)es of bowls were made here is indicated by the many 

 fragments recovered from the surface in the vicinity of the pits. One 

 type had a flat bottom ; in the second type it was more rounded. An 

 admirable example of the first form, found near one of the pits on 

 the northern part of the ridge, is shown in plate 14, figure i ; length 







Fig. 9. — Fragment of an unfinished, round-bottomed soapstone vessel. 

 3 natural size. 



(U. S. Nat. Mus. Cat. No. 332024) 



about 17 inches. It is very rough and unfinished, and the surface 

 reveals distinctly the irregular cuttings made by crude stone imple- 

 ments. One side had been broken, probably while it was being hol- 

 lowed out, and the vessel discarded. No attempt had been made to 

 smooth or finish the surface, either within or without. The knobs to 

 serve as handles project from the upper edge, at ends. 



The second type, with rounded bottom, usually has knobs extending 

 from the ends an inch or more below the upper rim to serve for 

 handles. The two forms shown in figures 8 and 9 are examples found 

 on the surface near the pits. Of the latter type are the two fractured 

 specimens said to have been discovered in a cultivated field near the 

 foot of Buck Mountain, in Buckingham County. This would be a 

 short distance south of the right bank of the James, and a few miles 

 from the extensive village site, believed to have been Monahassanugh, 

 between Norwood and Wingina, in Nelson County on the opposite 

 side of the river. The two specimens, as restored, are shown in plate 



