124 STOXE IMPLEMENTS (ktiiann. 15 



I'iuy braucli were in ;ill cases situated on the slope of tlie hills, and 

 were therefore directly beneatli overhanging masses of loosely com 

 ]iaet<'(l sands and gravels and may have been inore completely filled up 

 in one year than tlie steatite pits in a centiirj'. 



The character of the two sites corresponds very closely in the respect 

 that both are ill hills so steeji as to be (|uite unsuited for <;anii>ing or 

 dwelling. Both are therefore naturally free from \illagi! refuse, and 

 the tools found, for the most part if not exclusively, consist of those 

 actually used in the work of (juarrying and roughingout the articles 

 ])roduced. 



lu the cobble (juarries no tools of a durable material were needed 

 save the natural bowlders found by thousands in the (luanies. Care, 

 fully shaped hammerstones, polished celts, and grooved axes bad no 

 place in the industries carried on in these localities. A grooved ax, 

 such as that found in the Connecticut avenue quarry, would be an 

 efifective tool in the work of quarrying steatite, and could be used with- 

 out the least danger of breakage. The chisels were especially adapted 

 to, and no doubt made for, the cutting out and carving of the steatite. 



The nature and range of the work of shaping carried on in both 

 classes of quarries has a close correspondence. No finished pieces of 

 work of the classes made there were found in either class, lu the cob- 

 ble quarries the blade was roughedout to a convenient shajie for 

 transportation and subse(iuent elaboration; in the .steatite quarries 

 the pots were roughed-out and carried away to be fiuished else- 

 where. It is significant also that on many village-sites in the vicinity 

 the shaped objects of both materials are found freely and intimately 

 associated. 



Review of the evidence thus shows many significant correspondences 

 in the work of the two classes of (juarries, and no ditt'erences that 

 require the assumption of wide distinction either in time, people, or 

 culture. The historical aborigines are jjrobably responsible for all the 

 phenomena observed. 



THE SHOEMAKER QUARRY 



About 2 miles southwest of the Rose hill quarries, and not far from 

 the grounds of the American University, there are several obscure out- 

 crops of steatite. Numerous partially worked vessels have been found, 

 but if quarries ever existed they are now entirely obliterated by the 

 plow. 



THE LITTLE FALLS SITES 



A slight outcrop of steatite occurs in the creek bank at the Virginia 

 end of Chain bridge over the Potomac, just below Little falls and at the 

 head of tidewater; but no traces of ancient work have been observed. 

 That the work of (juarrying and cutting this rock was prosecuted in tlie 

 vicinity is indicated by the discovery of steatite picks and chisels, and 

 many articles made of steatite, finished and unfinished, on the village- 



