Several prehistoric Indian camp sites are located in Nelson County, Virginia. Devils Knob (elev. 3851 feet) and Crawford Knob (elev. 3028 feet) are separated by the Laurel Springs Gap in the Blue Ridge mountain chain. This area is the narrowest point of the northern Blue Ridge, and prehistoric Indians must have found this gap to be a convenient crossing point between the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the Virginia Piedmont to the east.
A variety of artifacts have been found on Devils Knob and Crawford Knob. Most of them are made of quartzite, and the rest are mainly quartz. The closest known source of quartzite is 4.5 miles away and 2000 feet lower in elevation, suggesting that quartzite was transported to these nomadic camp sites.
The artifacts appear to be from the Middle to Late Archaic period (6,000 to 1,200 B.C.) All of the artifacts shown here are surface finds. The geographic positions for each find have been recorded, and digging has been avoided to preserve the subsurface archaeological record.
Stone tools were made by chipping one stone with another, and prehistoric points and tools usually can be distinguished from naturally broken stones by their shape and sharply worked edges. Many small stone flakes may be found at camp sites where the tools were made. The piece of quartzite shown below has scoring lines on both sides, presumably to facilitate breaking the stone to give it a straight edge.
Quartzite Axe Head |
Quartz Point Quartz Point Broken Quartzite Point |
Quartzite Scraper |
Multi-Purpose Quartzite Scraper |
Quartzite Scrapers |
Quartzite Drill/Punch Small Quartzite Scraper Quartzite Scraper |
Small Quartzite Scrapers/Points/Blades |
Quartz Point Tip Quartz Scraper Small Quartz Axe Head |
Quartz Blade |
Quartz Point/Scraper Quartz Point |
Quartz/Quartzite Points/Drills/Blades |
Quartzite Scrapers |
Quartzite Scraper |
Quartz Point/Scraper/Drill |
Quartz Points |
Quartz Points |
Quartzite Points Quartzite Point? re-reworked as scraper |
Quartzite Point Quartzite Point |
Quartzite Point |
Quartz Point/Scraper Quartz Blade |