16 AN ANCIENT QUARRY IN INDIAN TERRITORY. {ethnology 



auy of the specimens have to the final forms the workman had iu view 

 or that specialization would finally produce. 



It happens that no finished flaked implement safely assignable to 

 this quarry has ever been collected at the quarry or elsewhere. My 

 visit was to the quarry alone, and I had to deal Avith rejectage exclu- 

 sively. What the fields and valleys of the Xeosho or more distant 

 regions may yield is yet to be determined. It is probable that imple- 

 ments of this cream colored chert comprising the full range of flaked 

 forms will be found when search is made, but judging by the quarry-shop 

 rejectage a very considerable percentage will be of large size, including 

 spear points, knives scrapers, hoes, and even celtoid forms. 



The quarry-shop shapes, taking those approaching most nearly 

 specialization and apparent finish, serve as our only key to the inten- 

 tions of the workmen. Series of these forms are shown in the last 

 line in plate iv. Having been left scattered through the refuse in num- 

 bers it is assumed that all are rejects, and it appears that rejection 

 must have been mainly on account of too great thickness or defective 

 outline or texture. Many of these pieces bear evidence of repeated 

 but ineffectual efforts to reduce thickness and remove excrescences. 



The oblong, oval blade, 1, prevails (this species is shown enlarged 

 in plate v) ; 2, 3, and 8 are slight variations from this type. Some forms 

 are rudely triangular, 4 ; others approach the discoid or circular 

 form, 9. Some are long with parallel sides and squarish ends, 10, as if a 

 chisel shape had been in view. Additional outlines illustrating oblong 

 and pointed forms are given in 5, 6, and 7. This series of specimens 

 probably indicates pretty closely the range of blank forms produced on 

 the quarry site, and it is quite possible that some of the pieces in- 

 cluded are completed forms (so far as this site is concerned), left on 

 the site by accident. 



In digging about the roots of the gnarled oak shown in plate xi, 

 three or four handsome blades, almost perfect in outline and apparently 

 not too thick for the ordinary uses to which such objects are usually 

 devoted, were found scattered through the debris. It is one of these 

 (1, j)late IV) that is shown full size in plate v. 



A progressive series of rejects is given in the two upper lines of 

 plate IV. Each blank blade of the remaining line passed through just 

 such a succession of morphologic steps. The small scale makes it diffi- 

 cult to realize the true nature and dimensions of the specimens, but 

 some definite notion may be obtained by observing that the aver- 

 age size is about that of the piece shown iu i)late v. For convenience 

 of insertion as a iflate this series has been divided midway. Begin- 

 ning with a lumi) of the raw material at the left we pass through suc- 

 cessive steps of specialization to the most highly elaborated form.^ 



It happens that occasional specimens, by a semblance of specializa- 

 tion accidentally acquired, have assumed forms characterizing some of 



' This is tho type series shown in the exhibit of the Bureau of Ethnology in the World's Columbian 

 Exposition. 



