ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY

40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

[BuU. 173

10 yards

from

the riverbank.

Undoubtedly

the site is

extensive than this.

The

collection consisted of 3 points

and

blades

and

chips.

No

pottery

was

noted. This assemblage is evidence that the area

was

used

by

a preceramic "quartzite-using" group.

RM-11

^is located

on

a ^10- to 15-foot terrace

between

^the

South Fork

of the

Shenandoah

River

and U.

Highway

12, 6.5 miles southwest of

Elkton and

1.25 miles southwest of the bridge at Island Ford.

The

river flows 100 yards to the west,

and

the intervening land is a low, flat flood plain covered with sod.

At

^the ^{foot of} the terrace

em-

banlanent is a shallow channel filled with flood water.

The

eastern

boundary

is fixed

by

the Norfolk

and Western

Railroad laid in close

proximity to U. S.

Highway

12.

The

north-south length is 200 yards, without definable limits,

owing

undergrowth and

grassland.

Collecting conditions

were

favorable with the clayey, rocky soil

plowed

for corn cultivation

and washed

with rain, permitting the ac- cumulation of 31 points

and

blades, 130 chips, 2 scrapers, 2 steatite fragments,

and

1 sherd.

The

cultural material falls into the preceramic "quartzite-using" horizon.

RM-12

^is

on

the right (east)

bank

of the

South Fork

of the Shen-

andoah

River, 0.5 mile southwest of the bridge at Island Ford.

The

abrupt

bank

is 15 to 20 feet high, topped

by

State

Highway

642.

Oc-

cupational refuse

was

found 10 to 20 yards east of the road

on

a gentle slope of

sandy

soilin corn cultivation. It also extends 100yards along the road.

Mr.

Sellers,

owner

of the land,

had

a small collection

which was

analyzed

and

incorporated into the tabulated

summary

of artifacts,

making

a total of 82 points

and

blades, 193 chips, 1 ax,

and

1 scraper.

The

artifacts, entirely stone, belong to a

group

having a preceramic

"quartzite-using" complex.

No*67J^"^^^'

CULTURAL PATTERNS,

VIRGtNL\

HOLLAND ₄₁

test pit

was dug and

fragments of along

bone and

askull

were

located.

The

soil

below

the sod

was

^black.

The

material

removed from

^this

mound by

^Valentine

was

largely skeletal but he also reports finding a few sherds of pottery.

A

visit to the Valentine

Museum was

unsuccessful in relocating these speci-

mens.

RB-S was

discovered

by

inspecting theopposite (right ornorthwest) side of Hayes'

Creek from

the

mound. Here

the grassy plain is nar-

rower and had

been superficially eroded

by

floods, the eroded sections extending 25 yards

from

the creek

and

100 yards along it.

Potsherds, chipped-stone artifacts,

and

chips were strewn

between clumps

of grass

and

many

^as could be located in a limited time were collected: 19 points

and

blades, 140 chips,

and

22 potsherds.

The

probabilities are that the Hayes'

Creek Mound had

beenlocated near or

on an

older village site, similar to the situation at

AU-35.

RB-Jf. ^lies within the limits of the small

town

Rockbridge Baths

immediately east of the intersection of U. S.

Highway

and

State

Highway

602.

The

southern limit is U. S.

Highway

which

has

been

built

on

topof a 30-foot cliff

formed by North

River (into James).

A ^broad sandy

plain extends

from

the river northeastward. In a ^10- by-25-yard area, 3 points

and

30 chips

were

located.

Of

25 quartzite chips, 22

were

purple

Erwin

quartzite.

In the absence of pottery

and

the high percentage of quartzite this site probably is a preceramic "quartzite-using" station.

RB-6

^is

on

the right (northwest)

bank

of Calfpasture River 1.5

miles southwest of the

Augusta-Rockbridge County

line. State

High-

way

600 has

been

built in close proximity to the riverbank

and

forms the southeastern limit of the small site.

The

fii'st spring plowing

had

deeply cut the

sandy

farmland

and

exposed, over

an

area 10

by

30 yards, the following material: 4 points,

and

35 chert, 3 quartz,

and

3 quartzite chips. In the total absence of pottery this is probably another preceramic "chert-using" station.

RB-6 was

discovered immediately southwest of the intersection of U. S.

Highway

and

State

Highway

600

on

a gradual slope to Mill

Creek which

is 35 yards to the southwest.

Goshen

is 2 miles to the southeast.

The

sand-clay soil

was

partly in corn cultivation,

and

topsoil

had been

partly bulldozed off in preparation for construction.

For

50 yards along the road

and

1 yards southwest of it a sm^all assemblage of chipped-stone artifacts

was made:

23 points

and

blades

and

146 chips.

No

^potsherds were seen. In

view

of the

prominence

of chert

and

percentage distribution of the chipped-stone artifacts, the site is

assigned to a preceramic "chert-using" horizon.

42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

^[Bull.173

RB-7,

Battle or Bell

Mound

No. 1

and

Chiefs or Bell

Mound

No. _2,

have

been described as follows (Valentine

Museum,

_1898, p. 58):

Battle or Bell

Mound

No. 1. Located on the farm of John M. Bell, on Calf Pasture River, about 4 miles from Goshen, Rockbridge County, Virginia. Ex- plored in 1877 by

Mann

S. and Granville G. Valentine for the Valentine Collec- tions. Contained about 50 skeletons buried in parallel chambers, 2 tiers deep, walled with boulders and covered with slabs of slate.

A

spear head, a few small shell beads andfragments ofburnt-clay pottery accompanied the

human

^remains.

Chief's or Bell

Mound

No. 2. Located on the farm of John M. Bell, on the Calf Pasture River, distant 150 yards from the Battle

Mound

and about 4 miles from Goshen, Rockbridge County, ^Virginia. Explored in 1877 by

Mann

S. and Gran-

ville G. Valentine for the Valentine Collections. Contained burnt

human

bones, with which had been buried hematite paint, sheet mica 11 inches acrosstheface,

a polished hatchet, 2 pierced tablets of fine grain slate, a clear quartz crystal weighing about an ounce, and a flat piece of copper about Yit of an ^inch thick by

2}^ inches long.

These mounds were

difficult to relocate. Search

and

inquiry along Calfpasture River did not reveal

any mound

anyone who had

ever heard of them.

There was no

property

known

have

been

owned by

Mr.

Bell in the late 1800's.

An

informant in

Goshen dhected me

a Bell

farm on

Little Calfpasture River

where

^it

was known two mounds had

been located. This area is a roughly oval plateau extending

from

the

Knob

^1.2 miles to the west

and

is 2.2 miles southeast of Goshen.

The

plateau extends to Little Calfpasture River

and

^is 0.25 mile north of

what

^is probably the Calfpasture River.

Maps

of the area list

an upper

part of the river as Calfpasture

and

a lower part as

North

River. It is difficult to decide

where

one begins

and

the other ends.

On

the northern part of the plateau the remains of a

mound,

6 inches high, 20 feet in diameter,

and

surrounded

by

a narrow, shallow ditch, wererecognizable.

The

soil

was

not charcoal stainedbutsandy, tan,

and

hard packed.

A

^few ^chips

^were

^recovered

from

the surface.

One hundred and

fifty yards to the west were the probable remainsof a second

mound.

At

the Valentine

Museum,

in a

showcase

displaying objects

from

the Battle

Mound,

there are 12

Radford

Series sherds labeled

"Rock-

bridge

County,

Virginia," beads, a quartzite

Large

Triangular

Blade Type

^T,

and

a polished greenstone celt.

Through

the courtesy of

Mrs.

Virginia Claiborne, director of the

Museum,

was

allowed to search the storage drawers for other sherds. In one, with

many human

bones,

were

220 sherds labeled