THOMAS.] OHIO. 457 



lage and what Las been an extensive aborginal cenieteiy ; the latter is 

 now nearly gone, owing to the encroachments of the creek on one side 

 and the river on the other. 



The indications are that this region was formerly occupied by a people 

 who had villages, but lived more by hunting and fishing than by agri- 

 culture. 



COSHOCTON COUNTY. 



Beginning in Jefferson township, a short distance above "Warsaw, 

 and extending in a southwestern direction for 10 or 12 miles, is a series 

 of flint deposits, the remains of what was once a continuous bed. The 

 ground has been eroded into numerous peaks and ridges, and the flint 

 is now found only in those hills whose tops remain above its level. At 

 several points these deposits bear evidence of aboriginal workings, 

 mostly along the outcrop, as the deptJi of earth and stone above them 

 was too great to be removed by prinative means. Many places that 

 have been left undisturbed are apparently no more difficult to excavate 

 than some that have been worked. The jnost extensive quarrying was 

 done on the hills immediately south of the Walhonding river, 3 miles 

 southwest of Warsaw. 



On the farm of Gol. Pren Methani, southwest of his house, is a long, 

 narrow ridge, whose top slopes downward toward the north for some 

 distance and then gradually rises to the end. In the depression, or 

 "saildleback," thus formed, the flint was covered only a few feet at 

 any point. The ancient diggers began at the outcrop on one side of 

 the ridge and worked across to the other side, removing the flint and 

 throwing the dirt behind them as they went. The soil is thickly cov- 

 ered and intermingled with spalls and fragments. There are a few 

 pits on the ascending slope to the south of this ridge, but the thick- 

 ness of the overlying soil soon becomes too great to justify its removal. 

 The space dug over comprises about 5 acres. 



Half a mile east of this, on land of Mrs. Oriss, between two small 

 ravines that intersect a short distance to the southward, is a nearly 

 level area of about 2 acres, rising from G to 12 feet above the outcrop, 

 on which are several large pits filled with muck and water. The largest 

 is about 100 feet across, and a high bank of earth still surrounding it 

 shows that a large surface of the flint has been uncovered. From the 

 hill, on one side of which this level is found, a narrow point extends for 

 some distance to the east, and along both sides of this point the exca- 

 vations or pits reach trom the outcrop up the hill to a distance varying 

 according to the thickness of the overlying stratum. At other places 

 in the immediate vicinity are similar excavations; but those mentioned 

 are the principal (mes. Some of the pits have been cleared out by 

 persons living near, and the method of excavating was found to be 

 analogous to that followed at the flint quarries of Licking county. 



This flint varies considei'ably. At the ])its on Mrs. Criss's farm it is 

 an opaque blue, with a small amount of included chalcedony and crys- 



