118 STONE IMPLEMENTS eth.axn.15 



hiiton the iiortlicni side there is :iii obscure excavation of coiisi(h'rahle 

 diineiisioiis that may be at least partially due to abori},^iiial operations. 

 I'its sunk in the sides of the hills would soon be tilled by debris 

 descending from above, but on the crests tbey would necessarily remain 

 clearly marked for a loni;- jieriod of time; their obliteration in the lat- 

 ter ease would depend on tiie very slow accumulation of vegetal 

 mold or of windblown material. In any attempt at estimating age 

 from mere appearances, therefore, tiie relation of the excavation to 

 the surrounding surfa<'e must be considered; this has already been 

 pointed out with some degree of care in describing the quartzite- 

 l)o wider quarries. 



The excavations undertaken under my supervision were confined 

 largel.y to the summit of the northern hill, as the ancient (piarries had 

 there remained wholly undisturbed save by the normal agencies of 

 nature. A row of pits, forming almost a connected trench, extended 

 along the crest and for a short distance down the noitherii end of the 

 hill. There were live well marked depressions in this series, the out- 

 lines being irregular (see plate lxxxiv). All were less than 2.") feet in 

 diameter, and tlie greatest depth was not above '2 or 3 feet. I)r Klmer 

 K. Keynolds describes one pit on the southern hill as being over 3 

 feet deep. The heaps and ridges of debris thrown from the pits by 

 the ancient miners extende<l along the sides of the row of pits, and 

 were not above a foot in height. This debris consisted for the greater 

 part of earth and irregular masses of steatite. Among tlie latter 

 were found many fragments of untiiiished vessels and rejects of various 

 kinds. Shallow depressions, marking the sites of ancient pits, occur 

 along the sides of the crest on the southern and western slopes of 

 the hill. 



Excavations Made 



Our examinations of the Connecticut avenue quarries were com- 

 menced by carrying a trench across the southern pit of the series on 

 the iiortliern hill. This exposed portions of the ancient quarry face on 

 the southern, eastern, and western sides, while the northern edge of 

 our excavation penetrated the full depth of the ancient quarry, which 

 was here not more than 4 or 5 feet. 



Beginning with the deepest i)art of this first trench, a wide trench 

 was carried northward along the chain of ancient jiits. Cross trenches 

 were dug at frequent intervals, and others were subsequently dug ou 

 the southern sloi)e. In all, not less than 800 s(iuare feet of the ancient 

 (piarry lloors were exposed and cleared off. and a very good idea ol' the 

 nature of the ancient quarrying wasol)tained. Theprincijial i)its were 

 worked to a depth of from 2 to (J feet by the aborigines, and the bot- 

 toms and sides present the irregular appearance necessarily jiroduced 

 by i)ryiug out such masses of potstone as the ipiarrymeii were able to 

 detach. A view taken in the main trench is shown in plate LXXXV, 



