HOLMES] ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 85 



mined. In 1870 Miss Babbitt discovered superficial deposits of 

 chipped quartzes at a certain level in the bluff face above the falls 

 and without undertaking excavations reached the conclusion that 

 they belonged to an outcropping stratum, which extended at the 

 particular level throughout the valley.^ In 1892 the writer undertook 

 limited excavations on the site; finding only superficial traces of 

 objects of artificial origin, he reached the conclusion that no definite 

 stratum containing these objects existed; that, although largely arti- 

 ficial, they were not implements but refuse of arrow making (fig. 

 39), the quartz used having been derived from outcropping veins in 

 the river bank near by.- Later, more extensive excavations by 

 Brower revealed the fact that the chipped objects were actually 

 included in the terrace deposits at various points near the river bank.-' 

 The initial examinations are a noteworthy case of imperfect and 

 insufficient observation of data bearing on an obscure and difficult 

 problem and of the futility of drawing conclusions of the broadest 

 kind from limited resources of well ascertained fact. In this faulty 

 work the w^riter had his share. It is important now that the prob- 

 lems be clearly stated, that the whole range of geologic and cultural 

 phenomena be fully studied, and conclusions drawn free from the 

 Avarping influence of preconceived views. The problems relate (1) to 

 the real character of the quartz relics as products of human handiwork ; 

 (2) to the nature of their association with the flood-plain deposits; 

 and (3) to the origin and age of the deposits in which the artifacts 

 are embedded. 



That observations of the phenomena of the site are not yet suffi- 

 ciently thorough to enable students to reach harmonious conclusions 

 is apparent, and it is the part of wisdom to regard such conclusions 

 as may be reached as tentative and subject to revision as the prob- 

 lems are more critically considered. 



It is observed that veins of white quartz outcrop along the river 

 bank above the falls and that this material was prob- 

 oua^rtzes ^ ^ ^ ' ^ ably quarried or gathered and worked up at various 

 points along the margin of the terrace. It is reason- 

 able to suppose that the torrents wdiich SAvept from the river banks 

 across the flood plain carried mainly, if not wholly, the refuse of 

 manufacture — the fragments, chips, and partially shaped implements. 

 The character of the finds bears out this interpretation. These 

 relics correspond entirely with the rejectage of arrow making from 

 quartz rock found on the sites of Indian occupation throughout the 

 country. They do not appear to include any particular type of 



^ Babbitt, Vestiges of Glacial Man in Minnesota, p. 594. 

 2 Holmes, Vestiges of Early Man in Minnesota, p. 219. 

 * Brewer, Kakabikansing. 



