FOWKE] ABORIGINAL FLINT QUARRIES 511 
ridge extending in a general northeast and southwest direction for 
nearly a mile, with several spurs branching off from it at different 
angles. The crests of the ridge and of the spurs have practically the 
same elevation, the caprock of massive stratified flint which protects 
them from further erosion being covered with from 3 to 20 feet of 
earth. The vertical range of the stone could not be ascertained, but 
apparently it is not very thick. Beneath it is a sandy shale, which 
in turn overlies heavy bedded sandstone. The topography is quite 
broken, the region being a succession of hills and valleys, with very 
little land that is even approximately level; but there are no bluffs, 
and few of the hillsides are too steep for easy plowing. Ravines 
surround the ridge containing the flint on three sides. At various 
places along the tortuous outcrop, as well as on top of the hill 
wherever the coating of earth is not so heavy as to render its removal 
impracticable, comprising about half its area, are pits where the 
stone was sought. None of them are deep; indeed, the exact location 
of many of them can be determined only by the different character 
and appearance of the soil and vegetation and the greater amount 
of broken flint lying around. It would seem from a desultory inspec- 
tion that the digging was done at random, as if many holes had been 
started and abandoned; but careful review discloses that the excava- 
tion was continuous over spaces measuring several rods across in any 
direction on top of the hill; while long trenches yet extend around 
the margin, the earth and broken rock being thrown in piles. At 
the outcrop, and in some places for a hundred yards below it, such 
work is still plainly to be seen. Before cultivation and consequent 
filling had begun more of this evidence could be found than now 
exists; and the quarrying seems to have been almost if not quite 
continuous entirely around the southern part of the ridge, with less 
of it on the northern side. When the superincumbent limestones 
were weathered away the flint on the present summit was protected 
from deterioration by the resultant clay covering, and the Indians 
dug directly downward for it. 
A line closely surrounding the extreme outward limits of the 
quarrying operations would inclose a space of not less than 20 acres, 
and probably three-fourths of this was worked over. At this time 
fully 10 acres in total area is marked with excavations or with scat- 
tered refuse where all the desirable stone was taken away. Much 
of the flint was unfit for use and was left in and around the 
diggings. Such as could be utilized was carried to various places in 
the vicinity for working up; especially to knolls and ridges over- 
looking springs, which are found in several ravines. 
In color the stone ranges from light to dark gray, almost black; 
occasionally there is a fragment of basanite. There is no diversity of 
