HOLMES) STEATITE MINING AND SHAPING 109 



workmen proceeded with pick and chisel to detach such portions as 

 were desired. If this surface happened to be uneven, the projections 

 or convexities were utilized, and the cutting was not difiScult; if the 

 rock was massive and the surface flat, a circular groove was cut, out- 

 lining the mass to be removed, and the cutting was continued until a 

 depth was reached corresponding to the height of the utensil to be 

 made ; then, by undercutting, the nucleus was detached or so far severed 

 that it could be broken off by means of sledges or levers. If the stone 

 happened to be laminated, a circular groove was cut through at right 

 angles to the bedding, and the discoid mass was removed without the 

 need of undercutting. If the conditions were favorable, a second disk 

 was cut adjoining the first, and then a third, and so on, pretty much as 

 the housewife cuts up the thin layer of dough in biscuit making. 



In cases where the floor and walls of a well-developed quarry are 

 fully exposed, as in the Clifton and Amelia county quarries in Vir- 

 ginia, the details of ancient operations are clearly displayed. In cases 

 it is seen that the task of cutting out the mass was just begun when 

 operations in the ([uarry closed, while in others it was well under way 

 and the bulbous nuclei stand out in bold relief. In cases where under- 

 cutting has taken place the rounded form resembles a mushroom on 

 its stem and is ready to bo removed by a blow; while in many other 

 cases we see only roundish depressions in the quarry surface, in the 

 bottoms of which are stumps or scars indicating that removal of the 

 mass had taken place. It often happened that the work of cutting 

 was stopped by the discovery of defects in the stone. In very many 

 cases defects were not discovered until too late, and the operations 

 of removal at the last moment became abortive; instead of breaking 

 off at the base, as was intended, the cleavage of the stone was such 

 that the body split in two, leaving a ijortion remaining attached 

 to the stem. The drawing presented in plate lxxvi will give a more 

 satisfactory idea of the whole range of phenomena than can any mere 

 description. 



A notable feature of the cutting out of these masses of stone is the 

 attendant shaping of the mass, which was rudely sculptured as the 

 work went on, the contour of the vessel being approximately developed. 

 Although I have seen no good examples of this class, it is confidently 

 stated by others that rude nodes were carved at opposite ends of the 

 mass as incipient handles, and that excavation of the bowl was begun, 

 so that when severed from the stem the vessel was already well under 

 way. 



QuARitY Product 



So far as I have observed, the quarries rarely yield evidence of the 

 prosecution of any other shaping work than that of obtaining the 

 rounded bodies of stone and the partial development of vessels. 

 Pipes, sinkers, ceremonial stones, and ornaments were made by the 

 same people, but mostly no doubt from choice bits of stone carried 



