HOLMES] 



STEATITE QUARRYING TOOLS 



113 



very neat aud delicate specimen, is hardly more than 3 inches long, 

 while the largest is 11 inches iu length. 



STEATITE QUARRIES 

 THE CLIFTON (^>UARRY 



The most interesting example of the soapstone quarries examined by 

 the Bureau during the progress of the work described in the jiresent 

 paper was the Hetzel-Hunter quarry, near Clifton, iu Fairfax county, 

 Virginia. Late in the fall of 1893 Mrs Margaret Hetzel, of Clifton 

 and Washington city, communicated to Professor O. T. jNIasou, of the 

 National Museum, the fact that iu prosi^ecting a soapstone deposit near 



Flo. 17 — Probable Tiiaoin^r of haftin;x tbe single-poiuted and the two-pointed chiaela or picks. 



Clifton the owners had discovered traces of aboriginal operations, and 

 expressed a, desire that the Smithsonian Institution should undertake 

 an examination. This was reported to me by Professor Mason, and the 

 quarry was put on the list for examination so soon as the field season 

 of ISOl opened. Late in March the work was taken up, and Mr Wil- 

 liam Dinwiddle was sent out with instructions to clear out the ancient 

 excavations in such a way that, if possible, the entire floor and the 

 quarry faces would be exposed for study and photographj'. This was 

 done in the completest possible manner, and in a few weeks a most 

 striking illustration of the enterprise and skill of our aboriginal tribes 

 was exposed to view. A trench or gallery some 25 feet wide and 

 reaching iu places a depth of 10 feet had been carried into the face 

 of the hill to a distance of 60 or 70 feet, and a second i>it, inferior in 

 dimensions, had been opened beyond this. Almost the entire excavation 

 had been carved out of the solid steatite by means of stone picks and 

 15 ETH 8 



