Report of the United States Commission to the Columbian Historical Exposition at Madrid. 1892-93; With Special Papers (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 Excerpt: ...are the most extensive of all tho flint quarries of America. The stone is found in massive strata which form the crests of the mountain chains, and these quarries have been worked by the quarriers for many miles. Many of the pits and trenches are very large, measuring more than 100 feet in length or diameter, and about 25 feet in depth. The quantity of broken, loose, and wasted stone abandoned is enormous, and thousands of stone hammers and blocks which were used in working the quarries arc found on these sites. The work of shaping did not extend beyond roughly outlining knives in the form of leaf-blades, pictures of which are in the collection of photographs. The blades which had tnrned out well were carried away to be utilized in various ways. Photograph No. 1 represents a series of blades, and No. 2 the particular implements which were found on the sites of villages and in the neighboring fields. Quarry refuse which was abandoned in various stages of manufacture into blades. Stone hammers which were used in breaking and extracting the novaculite. Blades made in the quarry, and dressed in the neighboring villages, but not different. Various quarry implements made of blades found on sites of villages, and of which there is a considerable distribution over the country. Primitive chert quarries (Indian Territory): These quarries are especially interesting from the nature of their stone. It is a whitish, massive chert, found in strata of many feet in depth, and so homogeneous that very large implements can be made from it. The deposits of quarry refuse on the spot indicate that here, as elsewhere, the principal articles made were blades, the largest of which were 15 or more inches in length. A series of rejects of manufacture is exhibited in the collection, a...