XXTT. STEATTTK QUArvEIES 



STEATITE is a soft, touo-h, talcoso rock, commonly called 

 sonpstone, which occurs in massive liodies in association with 

 other metamor])hic rocks. It was hiiihly prized by the In- 

 dian tribes and served many important pnrposes in their arts and 



industries. It has the very desirable qualit}'^ of 

 teriT^^'''''^ ^'''" i-esisting the action of fire and is thus especially 



adapted for the manufacture of cooking utensils. 

 It is readily carved and susceptible of a high degree of surface finish. 

 The color, when fresh, is usually a somewhat greenish-gray, but 

 when polished and subjected to long-continued handling it becomes 

 almost black, presenting an attractive appearance. The aborigines 

 in their search for materials fitted to serve them in their simple arts 

 prol)ably discovered and attempted to utilize loose masses of this 

 soft tough stone, finding it, however, unsuited for most purposes to 

 which the harder stones were devoted. We may safely infer that 

 step by step the peculiar (lualities and adaptabilities of the material 

 became known, and that after the available loose masses were ex- 

 hausted the rock in place was attacked where it outcropped in the 

 stream beds and on the hillsides. 



The manner of conducting the quarry work was substantially as 



follows: When a sufficient area of the solid stone 

 tions'^'"^ Opera- j^^^ been Uncovered, the workmen proceeded with 



stone picks to detach such portions as were desired. 

 If the surface happened to be uneven, the projections or convexities 

 were utilized, and the cutting w^as not difficult. Where the rock was 

 massive and the surface flat, a circular groove was cut, outlining the 

 mass to be removed, and the cutting was continued until a depth was 

 reached corresponding to the height of the utensil to be made; then 

 by undercutting the nucleus was detached or the stem so far severed 

 that it could be liroken olf l)y means of stone sledges or levers of wood. 

 If the stone hajipened to be laminated, a circular groove was cut 

 through at right angles to the bedding, and the discoidal mass was 

 removed without the need of undercutting. Where the conditions 

 Avere favorable, a second disk was cut adjoining the first, and then 

 a third, and so on, pretty much as the housewife cuts u^) the layer 

 of dough in biscuit making. 



228 



