ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT XCVII 



of special emphasis; the outcome ot'the study of the quartzite 

 quarries and implemeuts suffices to demonstrate that whatso- 

 ever be true of other countries and provinces, tlie rudely flaked 

 stones of the Potomac-Chesapeake pi-ovince do not represent a 

 lower or more primitive culture than that of the Indians found 

 in the province by John Smith and other explorers, and do 

 represent the by-products, waste, or rejectage, of stone-working- 

 by the the Algonquian and neighboring- Indians. Thus, what- 

 soever be trae of other districts, in this district the rudest stone- 

 work known to the archeologist and the finest stone carving, 

 pottery, basketry, and woodwork represent a single culture 

 stage. This conclusion is not put forth tentatively or provi- 

 sionally, liut as a final result of the most thorough single piece 

 of archeologic research ever conducted in America. 



While the chief subject of the monograph is the description 

 and discussion of the quartzite quan-ies and implements, there 

 are other features of note. The account of the quan-ying and 

 manufacture of steatite depicts with remarkable fullness and 

 clearness a little-understood phase of aboriginal art in east- 

 ern United States. The tracing of several materials used in 

 primitive art to their sources in distant mountains is one of the 

 minor triumphs of American archeology, and illustrates well 

 the thoroughness of the methods pui-sued in the work; and 

 there are other features worthy of careful attention bv students 

 of arclieolog-v. 



THE Slot AX IXDIAKS 



The summary sketch of the Siouan Indians prepared by Mr 

 McGee, as an introduction and complement to a somewhat 

 technical account of the sociology of the triljes, develops 

 several interesting points. 



One of the great linguistic groups of North America is that 

 comprising the Siouan tribes of the interior. Some years ago 

 it was ascertained through linguistic researches, originating 

 with the late Horatio Hale, but continued and perfected in the 

 Bureau, that some of the tribes found near the shores of the 

 Atlantic by white pioneers were closely related with the Siouan 

 tribes of the plains; it was also ascertained that certain archaic 



15 ETH VII 



