62  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
Nothing  is  known  of  the  origin  of  the  embankment  and  ditch. 
They  are  very  old  and  may  have  been  constructed  during  days  of 
Indian  occupancy,  when  the  embankment  would  undoubtedly  have 
been  surmounted  by  a  palisade.  Nothing  similar  has  been  encountered 
on  other  Rappahannock  sites. 
SOCKBECK 
About  I  mile  up  the  Rappahannock  from  the  mouth  of  Lamb  Creek, 
on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  is  the  site  of  a  settlement  which  gives 
the  impression  of  being  very  old.  It  is  near  the  river,  on  cultivated 
land  just  beyond  the  cloud-shadowed  area  shown  in  the  upper  of  the 
two  photographs  reproduced  in  plate  19.  It  is  a  beautiful  location 
which  had  probably  been  occupied  and  reoccupied  through  genera- 
tions and  may  have  been  the  position  of  Sockbeck  as  placed  on  the 
1624  map,  but,  as  previously  mentioned,  it  is  not  possible  to  be  certain 
of  the  identification  of  any  site.  Tlie  extent  of  the  site  was  not 
determined. 
Some  very  interesting  materal  was  discovered  on  the  surface,  in- 
cluding arrowpoints  and  other  small  chipped  objects,  crude  hammer- 
stones  and  pestles,  and  two  axes  which  are  the  most  unusual  speci- 
mens found  on  any  site  mentioned  in  the  present  work.  A  few  bits 
of  pottery  are  to  be  found  scattered  over  parts  of  the  site,  being  more 
plentiful  near  the  river,  but  all  have  been  reduced  by  the  plow  to  very 
small  pieces. 
The  two  axes  are  shown  two-thirds  natural  size  in  plate  21.  They 
were  found  in  the  same  field  a  short  distance  back  from  the  river  bank. 
Both  are  made  of  fine-grain,  dark  gray  quartzite. 
Specimen  a.  When  originally  made,  this  was  a  grooved  axe,  or 
axelike  implement.  It  was  probably  a  quartzite  pebble  that  was  shaped 
by  pecking  or  battering  the  surface  until  it  was  reduced  to  the  desired 
form  and  the  groove  made.  Then  it  was  lost  or  abandoned  for  a  long 
period,  during  which  time  the  surface  became  much  altered.  Later  it 
was  partly  rechipped,  but  the  groove  no  longer  served  its  original 
function,  although  the  implement  was  again  hafted  and  used.  The 
rechipped  portion  is  slightly  altered  and  is  easily  distinguished  from 
the  more  deeply  weathered  surface  of  the  original  axe.  A  small 
portion  of  the  natural  surface  of  the  pebble  remains  and  is  visible  far 
to  the  left  in  the  photograph  of  the  side  of  the  implement. 
Specimen  h.  Made  of  a  thin  quartzite  pebble.  It  had  been  formed 
by  pecking,  but  part  of  the  natural  surface  of  the  stone  remains  on 
both  sides  of  the  axe.  The  surface  became  greatly  altered  after  having 
