HOLMES] ABOEIGIlSrAL AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PAET I 177 



feet across at the base. This form indicates considerable age ; as does an oak 

 tree nearly 10 feet in circumference, growing on the top of the wall. In clearing 

 out this pit we could appreciate the patience and industry of the aboriginal 

 excavators. The clay subsoil was as hard and tough as frozen ground; fre- 

 quently half a dozen blows with a pick were required to break off a clod as 

 large as a man's hand. To remove it with primitive tools seems almost an 

 impossibility. The central part of the pit was filled with material that had 

 washed in from the sides. Several days of steady digging were required, by 

 three men accustomed to such work, to reach the surface of the flint stratum, 

 which was found at a depth of 9 feet. A hole 5 by 8^ feet had been worked 

 through ; clearing this out, we found the layer to be 40 inches thick. It rested 

 directly upon a solid bluish limestone. Both the flint and the limestone showed 

 that they had been subjected to an intense heat. The flint was very solid where 

 not burnt, translucent, and a beautiful light blue in color. On its top, on a 

 corner formed l»y two seams, was n saucer-shaped depression between 3 and 4 



J'l'.;. fiS. focti.Jii u( a quarry excavation, showing work in progress. 



inches deep, in the bottom of which was a handful of very line chips ; just 

 such as would result from repeated blows with a large hammerstone, several 

 of which were found scattered through the entire depth cleared out. One of 

 them weighed nearly or quite a hundred pounds. 



Careful observation of this pit — and others as well — enables us to follow the 

 prehistoric quarryman in his labors. He selected a spot where he thought the 

 superincumbent earth was not heavy enough to render the task of removing 

 it too tedious, but at the same time was of ample thickness to prevent injury 

 to the stone from weathering. He then sunk a pit, as large as he wished, to 

 the surface of the flint. On this he made a fire ; and when the stone was hot he 

 threw water on it, causing it to shatter. Throwing aside the fragments, he 

 repeated the process until he penetrated the underlying limestone to a depth 

 wiiich allowed him sufficient room to work conveniently. The top and freshly 

 made face of the flint was thickly plastered with potter's clay, after which fire 

 and water were again utilized for clearing away the limestone until a cavity 

 w^as formed beneath the flint layer. Thus a projecting ledge would be left 

 from which the burnt parts were knocked off with heavy stone hannuers iintil 

 the unaltered flint was exposed ; in the same manner blocks of this were pro- 

 cured for converting into implements. Where the flint was well suited for the 

 purpose intended, or was easily worked, the excavation was carried along in 

 the form of a trench, the waste material being thrown to the rear ; under less 

 favorable conditions the spot was abandoned. 



