Evening star., 1929-12-04
EXTENSIVE INDIAN
MINING IS Barred
Soapstone Pits in Blue Ridge
Area Were Operated by
Early Tribesmen.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

DA AhOIhfAS hs k1ENn1s
Extensive mining operations were con-
Quoted in the Blue Ridge Mountains
long before the discovery of America.
Matthew w. Stirling, chief of the
Bureau of American Ethnology and
Neil Judd. chief of the section of
American archaeology, have just returned
from the mountains above Charlottes-
vile, where they inspected the largest
of these mines yet discovered
This was a soapstone quarry. It COW
ers approximately acres with about
80 large pits, Is feet deep. The pre-
historic miners, they report, first re-
moved about feet of soil and loose
rocks to reach the first grade soapstone
which lay underneath, which they then
removed in large blocks.
Surface Stone Is Inferior.
The soapstone which crops out on the
surface, Mr.. Stirling said, is brittle and
of inferior quality, a fact which the
Indians appear to have recognized.
With their primitive implements the
digging of these pits must have been
major engineering operations, requiring
flarge numbers of workers.
Around the mine are scattered large
numbers of broken pots, cooking yes
sells and various utensils, leading to the
lottesville not only was mining but
manufacturing center. Apparently
many artisans were kept at work there
turning the soapstone blocks into fin
ished articles as soon as they were re-
moved from the mine.
In the immediate neighborhood. Mr.
Stirling said, extensive soapstone quar-
ries now are operated. The market for
the aboriginal handicraft remains a
for IN
none of the finished soapstone articles
has been found on any village site or
burial place.
! Who the miners were is not known
+ The country around the headwaters of
the James and Rapidan Rivers, Mr..
Stirling says, was known as the Monican
country, the headquarters of the pow
erful Monican confederacy in the sew
| enteenth century. This consisted o.
| four tribes. the Massinacae, the Mohe
menicos, the Monahassanos and the
Monasiccapanos.
100 in Chief Village in 1869.
Their chief village was known as
Monicantown, about 20 miles above
persons in 1859. They were a settled
agricultural people, who disappeared
shortly after the coming of the white
men.
It is doubted, however, if these we're
| the soapstone artisans and an effort will
| be made to determine who preceded
| them in this part of Virginia. They evil
IDENTIFY were people we'll advanced to-
| ward civilization.
| The soapstone mine was discovered by
David l. Bushnell of the staff of the
Bureau of American Ethnology, who is
! continuing his Investigations on the
| spot in search of a clue. Mr.. Bushnell is
| engaged in checking up Indian village
| sites and tribal distribution mentioned
| by early Virginian writers who actually
came in contact with the redfnen, but
who did not realize the value of preserv-
ing exact information.
The prehistory Of Virginia says Mr..
! Stirling, is practically unknown in spite
of the fact that the territory has been
| longest inhabited by white men.
Rich in Archaeology.
1t must be entirely reconstructed from
! archaeological evidence. The State, he
says, is exceptionally rich in archeologi-
cal material that not only will add
| greatly to the antiquarian interest of
| the territory, but will shed new light
| on the migrations of tribes and the cul-
| tural developments among the Eastern
| Indians in the long period that elapsed
between the settlement OF the Atlantic
Seaboard by human beings and the COM
| ing of the first white settlers. AS soon
as Mr.. Bushnell has laid the foundation
| for the work, it is likely that an ex-
| tensive program of research will be en-
tered by the bureau.
The mine above Charlottesville was
an unexpected discovery, because the
Indians, with plenty of rich lowland
| about them and with no croWding of
| population, seldom ventured into the
mountains except on hunting expedi-
tions, and the rough Blue Ridge country
would be the last place the archeologist
would look for remnants of a prehis-
toric civilization.
The prehistoric miners, he points out
apparently still we're living completely
In the stone age, making all their tools
and household utensils of polished soap
stone, but they had reached a very
high level in this stage of human cul-
ture. Such operations required a well
organized society, with expert workmen
in various crafts, which could come
only after a tribe had settled down to
an orderly community life.
There is the possibility that this site
above Charlottesville was the industrial
center Of large territory, the finished
goods being distributed for considerable
distances. Efforts will be made to find
other sites, especially in the Shenan-
doah National Park area, where, up to
the present, Indian remains have been
d'sappointingly scarce.