side of the base of the original flake, narrowing that part in such a
manner as to admit of its being inserted, into a handle or shaft, and
bound round with a sinew. This is superseded by the gradual formation
of barbs on each side, and these barbs are lengthened by degrees, until
they reach to the line of the base of the tang; the tang subsequently
shortens, leaving the barbs with a semicircular aperture between them,
and thus approaching some of the forms represented in the triangular
column. These latter barbed specimens are usually more finished, and
chipped with greater care than the long-tanged ones, which are rougher,
more time-worn, and probably of earlier date.
The triangular form is seen at first, with a straight base; gradually
a semicircular aperture appears, and this deepens by degrees until, in
some of the more carefully formed specimens, it approaches the form
of a Norman arch. This last variety is especially well represented in
Denmark.
Sir William Wilde’s arrangement, in his _Catalogue of the Royal Irish
Academy_,[148] differs in some respects from this; he considers the
triangular an early form, and he assigns the final perfection of the
art of fabricating flint spear-heads, to the large lozenge-shape form;
grounding his opinion on the circumstance of many of this form, of the
larger size, having been found polished, whilst those of the leaf,
triangular, and tang shape are not usually carried further than the
preliminary process of chipping. But it is evident that these larger
forms may have been used for spears, the lozenge shape being especially
adapted for this purpose, as enabling the owner of it to withdraw it
from the wound, after slaying his adversary; while those of the barbed
and triangular form being lighter, and calculated to stick in the
wound, would be better adapted for arrow-heads: and it is unlikely
that the same amount of labour would be expended on a weapon intended
to be cast from a bow, as upon one designed to be held in the hand. I
consider the polishing of these particular weapons therefore to be no
criterion of age, but merely to indicate that they were used as _armes
d’hast_, and not as missiles.
It appears highly probable, however, that all the several varieties,
if not developed simultaneously, were used at the same time; for we
find amongst the Persians, the Esquimaux, and many other nations, that
a great variety of arrow-heads are carried in the same quiver, and are
used either indiscriminately or for different purposes[149].
In the eighth row from the top, I have arranged a series of similar
forms from America, obtained chiefly from Pennsylvania, but they
are also found in other parts of the continent, and some few of the
illustrations here given (Plate XIII, figs. 131, 132, and 133) are
from Tierra del Fuego. Their forms enable them to be arranged under
precisely the same divisions as those from the continent of Europe,
and in each division the same development is observable. The tang or
barbed form, however, differs sufficiently from the European forms of
the same class to show that they arose independently, and were not
derived from a common source. The tang of the American arrow-heads, it
will be seen, is broader, at least in the later forms, and it appears
to have originated in a notch on the sides of the blade, intended to
hold the sinew with which it is attached to the shaft or handle. This
notch appears to have been constructed lower and lower on the sides
of the blade, until at last it comes down quite into the base of the
flint, and it then closely resembles the European in form; compare, for
example, figures 94 and 136; except that the tang is broader, and has a
lateral projection on each side, so as to render it firmer in the shaft
when bound by the sinew.
Notches at the side of the blade are extremely rare in Ireland, but
from Sweden Professor Nilsson gives a drawing of an arrow-head, which
I have copied into my diagram (figure 96). It is precisely identical,
in its peculiar form, to one here figured from America (figure 139),
and they both have a concave base, in addition to the side notch; thus
apparently representing a transition form between the tang and the
triangular, which I have never noticed, except in the two specimens
here referred to, and which must be regarded in Europe as extremely
rare.
To illustrate the mode of fixing these instruments in their shafts, I
have here figured several examples from my collection; two of these
(figures 163 and 164) were derived from the Esquimaux, between Icy Cape
and Point Barrow, the person from whom I purchased them having brought
them himself from that locality. Figures 165, 166, and 167, are from
California.
Burton says that the Indians between the Mississippi and the Pacific
use the barbed form only for war[150]; and Schoolcraft, in the
_Archives of the Aborigines of America_,[151] gives illustrations of
two methods of fastening, one for war and the other for the chase, the
former being loosely tied on, so as to come off when inserted in the
wound.
But, in addition to their use as arrow-points, we have reason to
suppose that they were used also as knives. I have represented in
the diagram (figures 168 and 169) two short-handled instruments
from Peru, which are now in the British Museum, into which similar
arrow-points are inserted. These, from the shortness and peculiar
shape of their shafts, could hardly have been used as darts. The only
weapon peculiar to those regions from which such an instrument could
have been projected, is the blow-pipe, and they are entirely different
from the darts used with the blow-pipe either in South America, the
Malay Peninsula, or Ceylon, in which countries the blow-pipe is used.
There is reason to believe, from the manner in which they are placed in
the graves, unaccompanied by any bow or other weapon from which they
could have been projected[152], that they were employed as knives, and
this is confirmed by the fact, already mentioned, of the inhabitants
of Tierra del Fuego using their arrow-points for knives. The great
numbers in which they are found in Ireland, in Yorkshire, and other
localities appertaining to the late stone age, in which places they
form the greater part of the relics collected, and are always the most
highly finished implements discovered--the other stone implements
associated with them being either celts, flint-discs, picks, or rough
or partially worked flakes, that are capable of being wrought into
arrows--the fact that the peculiar modification of form observable at
the base of these implements appears to have been designed rather to
facilitate the attachment of them to their wooden shafts or handles,
than for the special purposes of war; and the frequent marks of use, as
if by rubbing, that are found on the points of many of them, especially
in the specimens from Ireland; all these circumstances favour the
supposition that in Europe, as well as in America, these arrow-head
forms were used for many other purposes besides war and the chase; and
that, like the assegai of the Kaffir, and the many other examples of
tool-weapons already enumerated, we may regard them as having served to
our primaeval ancestors the general purposes of a small tool available
for carving, cutting, and for all those works for which a fine edge and
point was required. On the other hand the celt undoubtedly provided
them with a large tool capable of being applied to all the rougher
purposes, whether peaceful or warlike, for which it was adapted in the
simple arts of an uncivilized people.
In the ninth row I have arranged, under their respective classes, the
whole of the specimens of flint arrow-heads that are given in Siebold’s
atlas of Japanese weapons.[153] It will be seen that they present the
same variety of form as those already described. A similar collection
of flint arrow-heads has lately been added to the British Museum by Mr.
Franks, and described by him. They formed part of a Japanese collection
of curiosities, and are labelled in the Japanese character, showing
that this remote country not only passed through the same stone period
as ourselves, but that, as their culture improved and expanded, they,
like ourselves, have at last begun to make collections of objects to
illustrate the arts of remote antiquity.
_Implements composed of Perishable Materials._
It is now time that I should say a few words respecting weapons
constructed of more perishable materials; for it is not to be assumed
that, because we find nothing in the drift-gravels but weapons of
flint and stone, the aborigines of that age did not also employ wood
and other materials capable of being more easily worked. If man was
at that time, as he is now, a beast of prey, he must also have become
familiar, in the very first stages of his existence, with the uses of
bone as a material for fabricating into weapons. In the French caves, a
large number of bone implements have been found, and their resemblance,
amounting almost to identity, with those found in Sweden, amongst the
Esquimaux, and the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, has been noticed by
Sir John Lubbock, Professor Nilsson, and others.
But, in dealing with the subject of continuity and development, it is
necessary to confine our remarks to those countries from which we have
had an opportunity of collecting large varieties of the same class of
implement; we must therefore have recourse to the Australian, the New
Zealander, and those nations with which we are more frequently brought
in contact.
_Transition from Celt to Paddle, Spear, and Sword Forms._
[Illustration: PLATE XIV.
_Diagram 3._
TRANSITION FROM CELT TO PADDLE SPEAR & SWORD FORMS.]
The almond-shape celt form, as I have already demonstrated, is one so
universally distributed and of such very early origin, that we may
naturally expect to find many of the more complicated forms of savage
implements derived from it. [See diagram No. 3, reproduced in Plate
XIV.] In a paper in the _Ulster Journal of Archaeology_ (Belfast, 1857,
vol. v, pp. 125-27) a writer draws attention to the occurrence in
the bed of the Bann, and elsewhere in the north of Ireland, of stone
clubs, formed much upon the general outline of the celt, but narrowed
at the small end, so as to facilitate their being held in the hand
like a bludgeon. Fig. 50 is copied from the illustration given in the
paper referred to, and fig. 51 is another in my collection, also from
Ireland, of precisely the same form; the original is upon the table,
and it will be seen that it is simply a celt cut at the small end,
so as to adapt it to being held in the hand. Fig. 52 is an implement
in common use among the New Zealanders, called the ‘pattoo-pattoo’,
of precisely the same shape; it is of jade, and its form, as may be
seen by the thin sharp edge at the top, is evidently derived from that
of the stone celt. Fig. 53 is a remarkably fine specimen, from the
Museum of this Institution; the handle part in this specimen is more
elaborately finished. These weapons are used as clubs to break heads,
and also as missiles, and the fact of their having been derived from
the celt is shown by the manner in which they are used by the New
Zealanders. I am informed by Mr. Dilke, who derived his information
from the natives whilst travelling in New Zealand, that the manner of
striking with these weapons is not usually with the side, but with the
sharp end of the pattoo-pattoo, precisely in the same manner that a
celt would be used if held in the hand. The spot selected for the blow
is usually above the ear, where the skull is weakest. If any further
evidence were wanting to prove the derivation of this weapon from the
stone celt, it is afforded by fig. 54, which is a jade implement lately
added to the British Museum from the Woodhouse Collection. It was, for
some time, believed to have been found in a Greek tomb, but this is now
believed by Mr. Franks to be a mistake; it is, without doubt, a New
Zealand instrument. The straight edge shows unmistakably that the end
was the part employed in using it, while the rounded small end, with a
hole at the extremity, shows that, like the pattoo-pattoo, it was held
in the hand. It is, in fact, precisely identical with the hand celts
from Ireland, above described, and forms a valuable connecting link
between the celt and pattoo-pattoo form. Now it may be regarded as a
law of development, applicable alike to all implements of savage and
early races, that when any form has been produced symmetrically, like
this pattoo-pattoo, the same form will be found either curved to one
side, or divided in half; the variation, no doubt, depending on the
purposes for which it is used. The pattoo-pattoo, having been used at
first, like its prototype the celt, for striking with the end, would
naturally come to be employed for striking upon the side edge.[154]
The other side would therefore be liable to variation, according to
the fancy of the workman. Figs. 55, 56, and 57, are examples of these
implements, in which the edge is retained only on one side and at the
end, the other side being variously cut and ornamented. This weapon
extended to the west coast of America, and there, as in New Zealand,
they are found both of the symmetrical and of the one-sided form. Fig.
58 is one believed to be from Nootka Sound, in my collection. Fig. 59
is also from Nootka, in the Museum of this Institution. Fig. 60 is an
outline of one from Peru, which is figured in Dr. Klemm’s work (l. c.,
fig. 46, p. 26), and I am informed that a nearly similar club has been
derived from Brazil.
The same form as the pattoo-pattoo, in Australia, has been developed
in wood. Fig. 61 is from Nicol Bay, North-West Australia, and is in
the Christy Collection described as a sword. Fig. 62 is of the same
form, also of wood, but of cognate form, from New Guinea. In fig. 63,
which is also from New Guinea, we see the same form developed into a
paddle. In the larger implements of this class we see the same form,
modified in such a manner as to diminish the weight; thus, the convex
sides become either straight or concave. I have arranged upon the walls
a variety of clubs and paddles, from the Polynesian Islands, figs.
64 to 67, all of which must have been derived from a common source.
The New Zealand steering-paddle, fig. 64, it will be seen, is simply
an elongated celt form. Those from the Marquesas (fig. 65), Society
Isles, Fiji, and Solomon Isles, &c., are all allied. In the infancy of
the art of navigation, we may suppose that the implements of war, when
constructed of wood, may have frequently been used as paddles, or those
employed for paddles have been used in the fight, and this may perhaps
account for the circumstance that, throughout these regions, the club,
sword, and paddle pass into each other by imperceptible gradations.
In the Friendly Isles we may notice a still further development of
this form into the long wooden spear, specimens of which, from this
Institution, are exhibited (figs. 68, 69, and 70).
We must not expect to find all the connecting links in one country or
island. We know that the same race has at different times spread over
a very wide area; that the Polynesians, New Zealanders, and Malays are
all of the same stock, speaking the same or cognate languages. The same
race spread to the shores of America on the one side, and to Madagascar
on the other, carrying with them their arts and implements, and we may,
therefore, naturally expect that the links which are missing in one
locality may be supplied in another.
_Development of the Australian Boomerang._
We now turn to the Australians, a race which, being in the lowest stage
of cultivation of any with whom we are acquainted, must be regarded as
the best representatives of aboriginal man.
I have transferred the Australian sword, Plate XIV (diagram 3), fig.
61, to Plate XV (diagram 4), fig. 72, in order that from it we may
be able to trace the development of a weapon supposed by some to be
peculiar to this country, but one which in reality has had a very wide
range in the earliest stages of culture; I allude to the boomerang.[155]
The Australians, in the manufacture of all their weapons, follow the
natural grain of the wood, and this leads them into the adoption of
every conceivable curve. The straight sword would by this means at
once assume the form of the boomerang, which, it will be seen by the
diagram, is constructed of every shade of curve from the straight line
to the right angle, the curve invariably following the natural grain of
the wood, that is to say, the bend of the piece of a stem or branch out
of which the implement was fabricated.
All savage nations are in the habit of throwing their weapons at the
enemy. The desire to strike an enemy at a distance, without exposing
one’s self within the range of his weapons, is one deeply seated in
human nature, and requires neither explanation nor comment. Even apes,
as I have already noticed, are in the habit of throwing stones. The
North American Indian throws his tomahawk; the Indians of the Grand
Chako, in South America, throw the ‘macana’, a kind of club. We
learn from the travels of Mr. Blount,[156] in the Levant in 1634,
that at that time the Turks used the mace to throw, as well as for
striking. The Kaffirs throw the knob-kerry, as did also the Fidasians
of Western Africa.[157] The Fiji Islanders are in the habit of throwing
a precisely similar club. The Franks are supposed to have thrown the
‘francisca’.[158] The New Zealander throws his ‘pattoo-pattoo’, and the
Australian throws the ‘dowak’ and the waddy, as well as his boomerang.
All these weapons spin of their own accord when thrown from the hand.
In practising with the boomerang, it will be found that it does not
require that any special movement of rotation should be imparted to it,
but if thrown with the point first it must inevitably rotate in its
flight. The effect of this rotation, it will hardly be necessary to
remind those acquainted with the laws of projectiles, is to preserve
the axis and plane of rotation parallel to itself, upon the principle
of the gyroscope. By this means the thin edge of the weapon would be
constantly opposed to the atmosphere in front, whilst the flat sides,
if thrown horizontally, would meet the air opposed to it by the action
of gravitation; the effect, of course, would be to increase the range
of the projectile, by facilitating its forward movement, and impeding
its fall to the earth. This much, all curved weapons of the boomerang
form possess as a common property.
If any large collection of boomerangs from Australia be examined, it
will be seen that they vary not only in their curvature, but also in
their section; some are much thicker than others, some are of the same
breadth throughout, whilst others bulge in the centre; some are heavier
than others, some have an additional curve so as to approach the form
of an S, some have a slight twist laterally, some have an equal section
on both sides, while others are nearly flat on one side and convex on
the other.
As all these varieties continued to be employed, it would soon be
perceived that peculiar advantages were derived from the use of the
flatter class of weapon, especially such as are flat on the under
side, for by throwing these in such a manner as to catch the air on
the flat side, instead of falling to the ground they would rise in
the air, precisely in the same manner that a kite, (fig. 71), when
the boy runs forward with the string, rises and continues to rise as
long as it is kept up by the action of the air beneath. In like manner
the boomerang, as long as the forward movement imparted to it by the
thrower continues, will continue to rise, and the plane of rotation,
instead of continuing perfectly parallel to its original position,
will be slightly raised by the action of the atmosphere on the forward
side. When the movement of transition ceases, the boomerang will
begin to fall, and its course in falling will be by the line of least
resistance, which is in the direction of the edge that lies obliquely
towards the thrower; it will therefore fall back in the same manner
that a kite, when the string is suddenly broken, is seen to fall
back for a short distance; but as the kite has received no movement
of rotation to cause it to continue in the same plane of descent,
it soon loses its parallelism, and falls in a series of fantastic
curves towards the ground. The boomerang will do the same thing if it
loses its movement of rotation; but as long as this continues, which
it usually does after the forward movement has ceased, it continues
to fall back upon the same inclined plane by which it ascended, and
finally reaches the ground at the feet of the thrower. There are
various ways of throwing the boomerang, but the principles here
enunciated will explain the course of its flight in whatever manner it
may be thrown.
Now it is evident that this peculiar mode of flight would be of great
advantage to the savage, for as we learn from a paper in _Trans.
Ethnological Society_ (N.S. iii. pp. 264-5), by Mr. Oldfield, who
speaks from experience, the natives usually employ this weapon against
large flocks of ducks or wild-fowl in rivers or marshes; the weapon
after striking or missing the prey would return to the thrower,
instead of being lost in the morass; its use, therefore, would give
to the individual or tribe possessing it a great advantage over their
neighbours in the struggle for life.
But it is evident that the principles of the flight of the boomerang,
such as I have described it, according to the recognized law of
projectiles, must have been entirely unknown to the savage; he can no
more be said to have _invented_ the boomerang than he can be said to
have _invented_ the art of sustaining life by nourishment. Instinct
prompts him to eat; little better than instinct would enable him to
select from amongst his weapons such as are found most suitable for
obtaining food; and we have already seen how he may have been led to
the adoption of such an instrument as the boomerang, purely through
the laws of accidental variation, guided by the natural grain of the
material in which he worked.
The boomerang, though used chiefly for game, is used also as a weapon,
and Mr. Oldfield says that it is capable of inflicting a wound several
inches in depth.
A further movement is effected in the flight of the boomerang by giving
the arms a slight lateral twist, by means of which it is caused to rise
by virtue of its rotation, screwing itself up in the air precisely in
the same manner that a boy’s flying top rises to the ceiling. By means
of this addition, the weapon is sometimes made to strike an object in
its fall to the ground, behind the thrower, but the twist is not by
any means invariable, as any one may see by examining a collection of
these weapons. Nor is it essential to ensure a return fall, which I
have frequently ascertained by practising with a boomerang that was
perfectly flat.
[Illustration: PLATE XV.
_Diagram 4_
AUSTRALIA.
TRANSITION FROM THE MALGA TO THE BOOMERANG.
_Diagram 6_
INDIAN BOOMERANGS
_Diagram 5_
AUSTRALIA.
TRANSITION FROM HATCHET TO THE BOOMERANG
_Diagram 7_
AFRICAN BOOMERANGS.]
[Illustration: PLATE XVI.
_Diagram 8_
AUSTRALIAN THROWING STICKS.
AUSTRALIAN CLUBS
AFRICAN CLUBS
_Diagram 9_
AUSTRALIAN SHIELDS.
_Diagram 10_
AFRICAN SHIELDS.]