68 STONK IMPI.KMKNTS (ktii. axn.i:, 



ac('iiiiiiil;ittMl si> iiincli soil tliat a siiial! patch has hi-cii jilowcil ami 

 phiiited cliuiiig recent years. In tlie spring: of 1880 the great llond 

 swept the site, tearing ont i)its and Irenclies anil denuding Ilie ticld of 

 its soil. Tliis spot was soon alter this event visited by coMcctois who 

 obtained niunerous spearheads and .arrowpoints, with some other "well- 

 fashioned relics. In the spring of 1890 1 visited the site and found 

 many objects of art and observed some interesting facts. ]\Iaiidy the 

 objects found were rude, rei)reseiiting that part of tlie art i)roductsnot 

 desii'cd by collectors of specimens, but such as are essential, along with 

 the more finished things, to the story of the occupancy of the site and 

 the pursuit thereon of native arts and industries. The ri\ er had in 

 fiirnier years de])osited on tlie corrugated surface of thei)laiii numbers 

 of worn and partially worn stones of every variety. Atone])oint was a 

 bed of well-rounded bowlders containing many llakable i)icces. Living 

 on tliis site, surrounded bj' banks of gravel and heavy beds of bowlders, 

 the savage artisan did not need to quarry the material from which to Hake 

 his i)rojectilei5oints and his knives. Hegatheied them at his lodge door, 

 and with deft hand carried them through all the stages of manipula- 

 tion from the first flake to the finished implement. Quart/, and quartz- 

 ite were freelj'used, and the soil is filletl with tin; refuse of manufac- 

 ture. The rejects are identical in every essential respect, so far as the 

 rude stages are concerned, with those of the Piny brancli quarries. 

 But here at home the work was carried further; here the various forms 

 •were specialized, the points were affixed to the arrowshafts and spears, 

 and here, within the limits of the village at which they were nmde, they 

 were u.sed and lost. Knives and scrapers and perforators and drills 

 ■were made and used, and were lost or broken and left with the other 

 ■village refuse. 



On this site were found the fine-grain tough stones utilized for 

 axes and chisels. They were selected by the jirimitive artisans from 

 the hea])s of drift, in shapes resembling the art form desired. They 

 were broken and fiaked, if need be, info approximate sliape, and were 

 then battered or pecked into final form and ground and polished accord-. 

 iiig to custom or need. Specimens were collected illustrating every 

 step from the beginning to the end of the process. Along wif h the other 

 forms, several picks and chisels of the variety used in cutting soap, 

 stone were discovered. Their presence is explained by the fact that 

 near at hand occur outcrops of soapstone, and an ancient ((uarry has 

 been observed near the Virginia end of the bridge and within a stone's 

 throw of Little falls. Uammei'stxnies, whetstones, jiestles, mortars, as 

 well asfragments of ordinary I'otomac jiotteryand pieces of soai)sfone 

 ornaments and vessels, were fimnd. It would seem that every I'orm of 

 relic known in the I'otomac region, from the rudest turtleback to the 

 most finished tool of polished stone, occurs on this site — a site, it should 

 be remarked, so modern in its jieriod of occupancy that it is still swept 

 by the annual freshets. Numerous illustrations of articles from this 

 site will a[>pear in subseipient sections of this paper. 



