NO.    4      INDIAN    SITES    ON    THE    RAPPAHANNOCK BUSHNELL  63 
been  unused  for  a  long  period.  Evidently,  it  was  later  discovered  and 
resharpened  by  the  removal  of  several  large  flakes.  The  exposed 
surface  thus  produced  is  worn  and  smoothed  from  use,  and  even 
though  it  has  been  in  this  condition  for  three  centuries  or  more,  the 
surface  remains  unaltered,  in  strong  contrast  to  the  appearance  of 
the  older  portion. 
Quartzite  weathers  or  alters  so  slowly  that  the  present  condition  of 
the  two  specimens  is  suggestive  of  great  age.  But  the  surface  of  the 
secondary  chipping  of  the  two  pieces  has  not  altered  to  the  same 
degree,  and  it  is  evident  the  first  specimen  has  been  exposed  much 
longer  than  has  the  second.  The  surface  of  the  later  chipping  on  a 
has  become  altered,  whereas  that  of  h  has  remained  unchanged.  The 
first  may  be  the  older  of  the  two,  and  both  periods  during  which  it  was 
used  may  have  preceded  that  represented  by  the  historic  Algonquian 
tribes,  whose  villages  stood  in  the  valley  of  the  Rappahannock  in  1608. 
Beyond  this  site  the  left  bank  of  the  Rappahannock  is  bordered  by 
an  extensive  marsh,  and  on  the  opposite  side  are  cliffs  rising  nearly 
100  feet  above  the  water.  From  the  brow  of  the  clififs  it  is  possible, 
when  conditions  are  favorable,  to  see  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains  far 
to  the  westward. 
Evidence  of  Indian  occupancy  is  encountered  throughout  the 
region,  which  had  been  occupied  and  reoccupied  through  centuries. 
But  it  is  evident  that  the  greater  part  of  the  valley  from  here  to  the 
falls  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Algonquian  tribes  before  the  summer 
of  1608,  at  which  time  the  English  from  Jamestown  entered  the 
country. 
CONCLUSIONS  SUGGESTED  BY  CERTAIN  SPECIMENS 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  English  ascended  the 
Rappahannock,  that  part  of  the  valley  now  being  considered  was 
comparatively  thickly  settled,  with  camps  and  villages  standing  on 
the  banks  of  the  river.  But,  as  proved  by  the  discovery  of  certain 
objects,  the  native  tribes  then  encountered  were  not  the  first  to  in- 
habit the  country.  The  specimens  recovered  from  the  sites  vary  in 
form  and  material,  and  obviously  belonged  to  several  distinct  periods 
of  occupancy. 
The  occurrence  of  a  typical  eastern  Folsom  point  near  the  mouth 
of  Millbank  Creek,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rappahannock,  presents 
an  interesting  problem.  It  is  a  beautiful  example  of  the  type  that  has 
been  discovered  widely  dispersed  throughout  the  country  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  being  more  numerous  in  some  localities  than  in  others 
