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vanced to permit them to live in an extremely wild environment. Have you ever tried to chip a piece of white quartz to form a sharp point, with the requisite cutting edges, grooves and curves?” she asked.
White quartz was the most abundant mineral of choice for Rappahannock’s first settlers, about 9,000 years ago, Miss Nash explained. However, Blue Ridge quartzite, Maryland rhyolite, jasper, or chert (flint) from the Shenandoah Valley and West Virginia came into vogue over the centuries, as travel and trading increased.
Arrows were not used until about the Christian era, she added, so any carved sharp stones dated before that time were most likely spear points. These spear points were attached to small shafts, about eight inches long, which were in turn inserted into larger shafts for throwing.
Local pottery was simple and basic, reflecting the small paleo-Indian population, which had little leisure time to make fancier, decorated bowls, pitchers, and plates. However, large bowls carved from a sort of soapstone have been found.
Miss Nash encouraged collectors to keep detailed records of the exact spot where each artifact was found. Rather than saying it was found “in the field behind the bam,” collectors should measure the number of feet from the nearest spring, river, or rock outcropping; and indicate whether other artifacts were found nearby.
Miss Nash was accompanied by Dewey Lillard and Nancy Demarest, both members of the Indian Committee of the Madison Heritage Foundation.
“There are literally thousands of pre-historic Indian sites in our area,” Miss Nash said, “And the only way we can identify and save them is through local awareness and participation.”
As a result of the meeting, about a dozen people filled out forms to register their Indian sites, and seven others indicated a desire to join the Rappahannock Historical Society.
Membership in the society is open to all those interested in preserving the county’s heritage, whether full-time residents, or not, said Kathy Knuepfer, society president.
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