190 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 60 



Fig. 67. Section showing the ancient excavations. 

 A, Tlie filled pits. B, The present surface. C, The 

 shop sites. 



diameter. The principal trench opened by Dr. Phil- 

 Phiiiips's Excava- y • j -^ g.^j.^igr excavations was about GO feet in 



tions ^ 



length and passed through three or four of the an- 

 cient excavations, which were found to befilled with clay intermingled 



sparsely with (juarry 

 implements and shop 

 refuse from the sur- 

 face. The undis- 

 turbed portions of 

 the original deposits 

 consisted of com- 

 pacted clay compara- 

 tively free of concre- 

 tions until a depth of 

 20 feet or more was 

 reached, Avhere they 

 occur in numbers. To 

 this level and below 

 to the depth of 25 

 feet or more the an- 

 cient workmen had 

 penetrated and had carried tunnels horizontally in irregular 

 fashion, doubtless at great risk from caving in of the imperfectly 

 solidified materials above. The form of the ancient excavations and 

 the nature of their filling are indi- 

 cated in figure G7. The magnitude 

 of the ancient work is almost be- 

 yond belief, and we are led to 

 again marvel at the enterprise and 

 perseverance of the quarrymen, 

 who must have been impelled to 

 their task by interests of ^ital im- 

 portance to the people of the 



valley. ^ . ]\ >"^?^ M 



The implements emplo^'ed in the 

 quarry work in- 



Quarry Imple- it ^ iii 



ments cludc rude blades 



resembling the oi'- 

 dinary flint hoe of the region, 

 which show traces of wear by use 

 in digging, and a number of blunt, somewhat paddle or club like tools 

 made from oblong chert concretions by rough chipping a haft at 

 the narrow end and a scraperlike bevel at the broad end (fig. 68). 

 The latter tool appears to have been used in freeing the concretions 

 from the compact matrix by prying and tapping processes, and in 



Fig. 68. Clul)like implement used iu 

 removing the concretions from the 

 matrix. 



