QUARTZ QUOTES
Siouan
Congaree.
Use.
(B.) An Essay on the Antiquities of the Congaree Indians of South Carolina. (PLATE 16).
1852, Rev. Geo. Howe (correspondent)
Various implements and utensils of the Congarees have been found about the places of their
former abode. The smaller implements have partly been ploughed up in the field, and partly they
have been picked up since the freshet of 1852. I have many hundred arrow and spear heads, and
many more are in the possession of others. The longest of them is four inches and a half in length
--- the shortest less than three-fourths of an inch. Some are of quartz, others of flint, others of
jasper, others of horn-stone, and a few of coarser materials. And as to the color, they are of all
the various hues which these several mineral substances assume. Some are of beautiful shape and
colors, and exquisitely formed by the process of chipping described on p. 467, Vol. III. of Hist.
and Cond. of the Indian Tribes. The last one, on the lower left-hand corner of the Plate, seems to
be a piece of stone, divided according to its natural cleavage, preparatory to being manufactured
into a spear-head. Among the number may be found some with jagged edges evidently designed
for fish-spears. With a magnifying glass and in the clear sunlight, the form of these various
arrow-heads may be seen, and the material of each pretty well understood (Schoolcraft 1860,
v.4:159).
Congaree.
Use.
(B.) An Essay on the Antiquities of the Congaree Indians of South Carolina. (PLATE 16).
1852, Rev. Geo. Howe (correspondent)
In front of the upright jar is a peculiar discoidal stone of whitish, translucent quartz, formed with
perfect regularity, with a saucer-like depression on either side, the one exactly corresponding to
the other. The difficulty is to understand how so unyielding a material could be formed so truly
by any instrument the Indian was known to possess. When once made, the discoidal vessel might
be used for grinding colors, or for any similar purpose (Schoolcraft 1860, v.4:161).
Congaree.
Use.
(B.) An Essay on the Antiquities of the Congaree Indians of South Carolina. (PLATE 16).
1852, Rev. Geo. Howe (correspondent)
The discoidal stone, against which this leans, is from Lexington District, the territory of the
Congarees. It is of dark-colored quartz. The other object of the same kind was found on the
plantation of Mr. Benjamin Taylor, on this side of the river, and is another relic of the same tribe.
This, [page 164] like the fragment in Fig. A, is of solid translucent quartz. It is five and oneeighth inches in diameter. The other perforated specimen is five and one-half inches in diameter
(Schoolcraft 1860, v.4:163-164).
Date: 6/29/2016
Page: 1
Congaree.
Use.
Antiquities of the Congarees.
Ancient War-Axe of Red Translucent Quartz.
Plate 20, Fig. 1, is a stone tomahawk of the kind denominated cassé tête by the French. It
consists of two oval blades, united by a round socket, prepared for receiving a handle, the whole
being of a solid piece. The material is a red silicious quartz, semi-translucent. It is figured from
the collection of Brantz Mayer, Esq., of Baltimore (Schoolcraft 1860, v.4:174).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
1860 Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian
Tribes of the United States. 6 vols. J.B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia.
Date: 6/29/2016
Page: 2