106 STONE IMPLEMENTS (ktii. anx. 15 



been worked by the natives in several counties of soutbern-eentral 

 Virginia and in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. Tlie processes of 

 mining, as observed in the mines of North Carolina, appear to have 

 been much the same as in the (piarrying of steatite. Tlie deposits 

 were uncovered and the massive crystals were broken ui) with ham- 

 mers and the best sheets secured to be used for mirrors, or cut into 

 desired shapes for ornaments. In the spring of 1893 Mr De Lancey 

 W. Gill went to ^litchell county. North Carolina, under my direction, 

 to collect materials representing the ancient mica-quarrying industry 

 for the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Numerous quarrying imple- 

 ments resembling those used in the soapstone quarries were found, and 

 the excavations are reported to be quite as extensive as in any other 

 class of the aboriginal quarries of the east. 



STEATITE UTENSILS 

 CHARACTER, USE, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE MATERIAL 



Steatite (or soapstone) was used somewhat extensively by the natives 

 of the tidewater country in the manufacture of pots, dishes, and cups, 

 as well as of smaller articles, such as pipes and ornaments. It was 

 obtained along the western border of the tidewater country, either from 

 the surface or by quarrying, and the articles made are scattered over the 

 entire province, occurring somewhat less frequently as we pass outward 

 toward the Atlantic shore-line. The larger objects were extremely heavy 

 and their transportation was necessarily limited largely to the waterways. 



Steatite is of common occurrence over a wide belt of territory extend- 

 ing through the New England states and continuing down the Atlantic 

 slope to Alabama. In Maryland and Virginia the best-known deposits 

 occur along the eastern border of the Piedmont highland, often within 

 the border of the tidewater area. Its geologic relations and character 

 are now jiretty well made out. 



Being a tenacious rock, it resists erosion and is consequently well 

 exposed in stream banks, in cliffs, and on the ci'ests of hills and ridges. 

 The outcrops have been worked by the aborigines in innumerable places 

 in Vermont, New Hami)shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- 

 cut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, 

 and Georgia. More recentlj' the whites have mined it extensively, and 

 many of the quarries originally worked by the Indians have been re- 

 opened for commercial purposes, and the traces of the ancient opera- 

 tions thereby ])artially or entirely obliterated. At the same time this 

 work has resulted in calling the attention of students of archeology to 

 the subject and in giving them an excellent opportunity for investi- 

 gating the ancient industry. 



SURFACE INDICATIONS OF QUARRYING 



As a rule the surface indications of the ancient operations are not 

 distinctly marked. The pittings are commonly not very deep; on 



