HoijrtEsl STEATITE QUARRY PRODUCT 111 



small rejects from the Connecticut avenue quarries. This edge was 

 sometimes rather rougli and uneven, leaving scratchy lines, suggest- 

 ing a flaked rather than a polished tool. The character of the work 

 varies a great deal; in some cases the strokes were bold and profes- 

 sional in appearance, in others timid and uncertain. Three excellent 

 examples of roughed-out vessels are shown in plate lxxx; a and b are 

 from quarry sites, where they were rejected and deserted, while c is 

 fi-om a village-site at College Station, Maryland, several miles from the 

 nearest quarry. These specimens show decided differences in shape of 

 bowl and placement of handles. 



IMPLEMENTS USED IN QUAERYING AND CUTTING 

 Character of the Tools 



The tools and utensils emijloyed in the quarrying and shaping of 

 steatite maybe reviewed with considerable care, since they prove to be, 

 as far as brought to light, largely of classes peculiar to the work and 

 hitherto practically unknown to archeologists. 



It is safe to assume that there were many implements of wood as well 

 as bone and antler used in uncovering and removing the stone that 

 have wholly disappeared. These hypothetic utensils would no doubt 

 include levers, pikes, mauls or mallets, picks, hoes, and shovel-like 

 tools. 



Naturally very many of the tools used were of stone, and these are 

 found in considerable numbers on the quarry sites and on shop and 

 village sites in the vicinity. There is no clear distinction to be drawn 

 between those used in quarrying and cutting out the raw material and 

 those employed in shaping the vessels, yet it may be assumed that in 

 general the heavy, rude tools were for quarrying and that the more 

 delicate, sharp-edged or pointed tools were for shaping and flnishing. 

 The heavier tools consist of rounded sledge-like masses used for driv- 

 ing wedges and for breaking off portions of the stone, of heavy wedge- 

 like stones, often much battered as if from blows by heavy sledges, 

 and of pick-like forms, some rude, others well shaped by flaking and 

 pecking. One variety of the picks is roughly grooved by flaking and 

 jjecking, and another has a plain shaft, often a little curved as if to 

 be attached to a handle somewhat as our picks and adzes. In several 

 of the quarries we have found ordinary grooved axes, most of them 

 having been remodeled or resharpened by flaking to make them effi- 

 cient in picking and cutting; then there is a large class of chisel-like 

 tools of varied sizes and shapes, sometimes improvised from stones of 

 approximate proportions slightly flaked or ground to effective points, 

 sometimes flaked out of the raw material, which is generally a greenish- 

 gray basic eruptive rock obtained from the highland, and iiossibly by 

 quarrying. 



Generally these tools were made by skilled hands and are developed 

 into such highly individualized shapes that we are compelled to allow 



