FOWKE] ABORIGINAL FLINT QUARRIES 535 
of the flint. At this point, too, is the most extensive quarrying; the 
digging was done at three different levels. The lowest is directly 
on the surface of a ledge of limestone whose outcrop is several feet 
thick. There is one quarry here which, after all the wash from above, 
would require at least a thousand yards of earth to fill it to the gen- 
eral slope on either side; and there is no easy way of ascertaining 
how far back it may extend under the talus which has slid down 
into it. 
At the extreme end of the first high ridge east of the Milliken 
estate is a knoll or peak almost cut off from the remainder of the 
ridge. It owes its height and form to the cap rock of the flint, which 
is now at least 50 feet thick. The top of the hill is rounded by 
erosion, with steep slopes all around reaching to the bottom of the 
deep ravines except for the very narrow isthmus connecting it with 
the ridge beyond. On the top of the knoll are many pits of varying 
sizes; entirely around it is a terrace or bench formed by following 
inward the outcropping chert a few yards below the summit. while 
farther down the slope similar platforms have been carried in along 
a stratum lying near and at the bottom of the deposit. The amount 
of material removed from this hill probably exceeds the amount taken 
from any equal area excavated in this vicinity; the pits and drifts, at 
a very moderate estimate, would amount to 2 acres, from which all 
the workable stone has been taken away. 
The method of quarrying was that usually followed under such 
conditions. The quarrymen began at the outcrop and threw down 
the hill all the unsuitable rock they were compelled to remove. When 
a desirable quality of stone was reached they broke it off with heavy 
stone hammers and carried it away. But the steepness of the slope 
prevented them from penetrating the hill to any great distance. 
Within a few yards in most places, and within a few rods where 
digging was easiest, the overlying rock and earth became too great 
for their strength or patience and they moved along to another spot. 
The wash from above has partially filled the old excavations, making 
them even less apparent, and for this reason the amount of digging 
appears much less than it really was. It is safe to say that the flint 
sought has been reached and removed over an area of not less than 
100 acres between the Meramec and High Ridge; and as the chert 
seems to extend indefinitely to the southward there may be additional 
evidences of excavation in places not yet examined. 
Nearly all the chipped implements found within 50 miles of St. 
Louis in any direction are made of stone from this deposit; at least, 
it looks exactly like it, and no other deposit is now known from which 
it could have been derived. This observation, of course, does not 
apply to the hoes and spades made from the Union County, IIl., 
