8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 89 



an extent that it is difficult to discern signs of the chipping by which 

 the piece of rock was reduced to the desired form. But in one re- 

 spect the specimen may be unique. It is evident that at some later 

 time, after the original flaked surface had become greatly weathered, 

 the object was found and partly rechipped, making it again a ser- 

 viceable implement or weapon. The removal of flakes during the 

 process of rechipping exposed the black rock, and, as clearly shown 

 in the photograph, large flakes were removed in the endeavor to 

 sharpen the cutting edge. Rechipping of the edge of the object con- 

 tinued as far as the beginning of the groove. The surface exposed 

 by the later, or secondary, chipping has become only slightly 

 changed, contrasting strongly with the deep weathering of the orig- 

 inally flaked portion, but conforming in appearance with many speci- 

 mens made of the same material and believed to have been produced 

 during the recent period of occupancy. If so slight a change has re- 

 sulted after exposure to the elements for not less than two and one- 

 half centuries, the very great age of the specimen becomes apparent. 

 Centuries, during which time the surface became weathered and 

 worn away, must necessarily have elapsed between the making of the 

 implement, later to be lost or abandoned, and the time it was found, 

 resharpened, and again used. Evidence of very early occupancy is 

 thus revealed. Considering conditions known to have prevailed on 

 other parts of the continent 1,500 or 2,000 years ago, it is within 

 reason to believe that nomadic bands had even before that time pene- 

 trated into the wilderness eastward from the mountains and reached 

 the valleys of the streams flowing into the Atlantic. 



Innumerable arrowheads and various forms of small chipped im- 

 plements are encountered throughout the piedmont region, a large 

 proportion of them having been made of quartz or quartzite, mate- 

 rials which do not show the effect of exposure to the action of the 

 elements. Some, however, were chipped from small pieces of black 

 chert, the source of which has not been discovered. Six of the latter 

 specimens, all found on the Oliver site, located near the center of 

 Albemarle County and described in detail later in this article, prove 

 to be of great importance, as they present additional proof of two 

 distinct periods of occupancy in that part of Virginia. A photo- 

 graph of the six pieces is reproduced in plate 2, upper figure. The 

 three specimens below do not show weathering, although they were 

 exposed, as was the ax in its rechipped condition, for not less than 

 two and one half centuries. The surfaces of all are as black and 

 fresh, and the edges as sharp, as though recently chipped. Compare 



