CHIPPED IMPLEMENTS
PROJECTILE POINTS WITH STEMS EXPANDING FROM BASE OR WITH SIDES PARALLEL
This division embraces large numbers of projectile points which served
as shaft-heads to spears and lances. The triangular war points mentioned
and illustrated in a previous chapter were also made use of as
projectile points. But, as a rule, arrow-heads were notched, in order
that they might be more securely fastened to the shaft.
In order that there may be no misunderstanding as to the terms employed
in these descriptions, I have illustrated herewith (Fig. 79) one of the
best spear-points in the Phillips Academy collection at Andover. The
terms accepted as descriptive of the various portions of the arrow-head
are taken from Mr. Fowke’s arrow-head nomenclature in the Bureau of
American Ethnology _Report_, 1891–2, page 143. Mr. Fowke’s terms have
been generally accepted. I have presented a different specimen from the
one he shows and have added the term “serration.”
We have passed from the class of implements supposed to be simple forms
to the beginning of more complicated ones. The Committee gave first,
stems with straight sides, the bases of which might be straight,
concave, or convex. In the South the flint implements which exhibit a
narrow base and expanding stem predominate. But specimens in which the
sides of the stem are parallel or straight are not uncommon. Perhaps
more of the “stem with sides parallel” type are found on the tributaries
of the Columbia River and in Texas and California.
In my illustrations it is difficult to procure specimens all of one
type, and on some plates the predominating shapes are of the type
described. Yet here and there will be seen objects which belong in
another class. As a matter of course, “The Stone Age” describes few
objects that are not imperishable material; wooden shafts and weapons,
fabrics, whether skin or basketry, have long since resolved themselves
into dust. However, a few words of description concerning bows and
arrows themselves will not be amiss.
[Illustration:
FIG. 79. (S. 1–1.) Material: white flint, Southern Ohio. A, point; B,
edge; C, face; D, bevel; E, blade; F, tang; G, stem; H, base; I,
notch; K, neck; M, barb or shoulder; N, serration. Phillips Academy
collection.
]
The bows and arrows of the Indians are numerous in our larger museums.
Yet, with here and there an exception, these are of the past sixty
years, a few are one hundred and fifty or more years old, though now and
then one may observe a bow in a European museum dating back two or three
centuries. I have not presented figures of the bows and have given but
one of the arrows. Dr. Pepper found a bundle of ancient arrows in Pueblo
Bonito, a prehistoric ruin in northern New Mexico. It lay at
considerable depth in one of the lower rooms, rubbish-filled at the time
of his exploration. There can be no question as to the prehistoric
origin of these arrows. They were all tipped with obsidian points, well
gummed and sinewed to the shafts.
[Illustration:
FIG. 80. (S. 1–5.) Buffalo skull with long, slender arrow penetrating
the left frontal bone. Found on the Great Plains in Iowa. Collection
of the Historical Department of the State of Iowa.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 81. (S. 1–2.) Human skull from California, with an arrow-point
embedded in the frontal bone causing the death of the subject. H. K.
Deisher, Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
]
Any reader may be able to obtain a good idea of the types prevailing
among tribes the past sixty years if he will inspect the museum
collections in his nearest city, for there are now public museums in
upwards of seventy cities in the United States.
Professor Mason, Dr. Hough, and other gentlemen made a study of bows and
arrows in the Smithsonian Institution. After many years of observation,
Professor Mason prepared an article for the “Handbook of American
Indians” and portions of it are herewith presented.
ARROWS, BOWS, AND QUIVERS
“The bow and arrow was the most useful and universal weapon and
implement of the chase possessed by the Indians north of Mexico for
striking or piercing distant objects.
[Illustration:
FIG. 82. (S. 1–1.) Two without barbs and shoulders. The central one
but for the notches would be of “expanding from the base” type.
Material: dark chert (to right), argillite (left). Dr. T. B. Stewart
collection, Lockhaven, Pennsylvania.
]
“_Arrows._ A complete Indian arrow is made up of six parts: Head, shaft,
foreshaft, shaftment, feathering, and nock. These differ in material,
form, measurement, decoration, and assemblage, according to individuals,
locality, and tribe.... In the Southwest a sharpened foreshaft of hard
wood serves for the head. Arctic and Northwest coast arrows have heads
of ivory, bone, wood, or copper, as well as of stone; elsewhere they are
more generally of stone, chipped or polished. Many of the arrow-heads
from those two areas are either two-pronged, three-pronged, or
harpoon-shaped. The head is attached to the shaft or foreshaft by
lashing with sinew, by riveting, or with gum....
[Illustration:
FIG. 83. (S. 1–1.) Pennsylvania types. Many expanding from base.
Materials: jasper, quartz, black flint. Deisher collection,
Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
]
“Arrow-shafts of the simplest kinds are reeds, canes, or stems of wood.
In the Arctic region they are made of driftwood or are bits of bone
lashed together, and are rather short, owing to the scarcity of
material. The foreshaft is a piece of ivory, bone, or heavy wood. Among
the Eskimo foreshafts are of bone or ivory on wooden shafts; in
California, of hard wood on shafts of pithy or other light wood; from
California across the continent to Florida, of hard wood on cane shafts.
The shaftments in most arrows are plain; but on the Western coast they
are painted with stripes for identification. The Plains Indians and the
Jicarillas cut shallow grooves lengthwise down their arrow-shafts,
called ‘lightning marks,’ or ‘blood grooves,’ and also are said by
Indians to keep the shaft from warping (Fletcher) or to direct the
flight. The feathering is an important feature in the Indian arrow,
differing in the species of birds, the kind and number of feathers, and
in their form, length, and manner of setting....
[Illustration:
FIG. 84. (S. 2–7.) Obsidian arrow-head lashed with sinews, from
Arizona—probably Apache and of the ’50’s; there is blood dried in
the grooves. Drawn by J. H. Richardson.
]
“_Bows._ The bows of the North Americans are quite as interesting as
their arrows. The varied environments quickened the inventive faculty
and produced several varieties. They are distinguished by the materials
and the parts, which are known as back, belly, wings, grip, nocks, and
string. The varieties are as follows: (1) Self-bow, made of one piece;
(2) compound bow, of several pieces of wood, bone, or horn lashed
together; (3) sinew-backed bow, a bow of driftwood or other brittle
wood, reinforced with cord of sinew wrapped many times about it
lengthwise, from wing to wing; (4) sinew-lined bow, a self-bow, the back
of which is further strengthened with sinew glued on. In some cases bows
were decorated in colors. The varieties characterizing the culture areas
are distinguished as follows:—
“(1) Arctic. Compound bows in the East, very clumsy, owing to scarcity
of material; the grip may be of wood, the wings of whale’s ribs or bits
of wood from whalers. In the West excellent sinew-backed bows were made
on bodies of driftwood. Asiatic influence is apparent in them.[3]
“(2) Northern Athabascan. Long, straight bows of willow or birch, with
wooden wrist-guards projecting from the belly.
“(3) St. Lawrence and Eastern United States. Self-bows of ash,
second-growth hickory, osage orange (bois d’arc), oak, or other hard
wood.
“(4) Gulf States. Long bows, rectangular in section, of walnut or other
hard wood.
“(5) Rocky Mountains. (1) Self-bow of osage orange or other hard wood;
(2) a compound bow of several strips of buffalo horn lashed together and
strengthened.
“(6) North Pacific coast. Bows with rounded grip and flat wings, usually
made of yew or cedar.
“(7) Fraser-Columbia region. Similar to number 6, but with wings much
shorter and the nocks curved sharply outward.
“(8) Interior basin. A long slender stick of rude form; many are
strengthened by means of a sinew lining on the back and cross-wrappings.
“(9) California. Like number 7, but neatly lined with sinew and often
prettily decorated.
“(10) Southwest. Like number 8, but seldom sinew-lined (Navaho).
[Illustration:
FIG. 85. (S. 1–2.) All expanding from base. Probably knife-blades for
hafting—because of curved edge. H. K. Deisher’s collection,
Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
]
“Small painted bows are used much in ceremony, especially by the
Pueblos, who deposit them in shrines. In the south part of this area
long cottonwood bows with cross-lashing are employed by Yuman and Piman
tribes. The Jicarillas make a Cupid’s bow, strengthened with bands of
sinew wrapping.”
[Illustration:
FIG. 86. (S. 1–1.) Specialized quartzite blades, probably in the main
projectile points, from Potomac village-sites.
]
We have observed that the form of bow and arrow varies among different
tribes. Probably similar variations obtained in ancient times.
Arrow-heads have been often found embedded in human bones. A prehistoric
specimen was unearthed in 1869 from an Indian mound in the vicinity of
Fort Wadsworth, Dakota, by Surgeon A. T. Comfort, of the United States
Army. It consists of a human lumbar vertebra with a small arrow-point of
white quartz embedded and incrusted in it. The vertebra is covered with
a new bony formation, showing that the wounded man survived the injury
for some months at least.
[Illustration:
FIG. 87. (S. 1–2.) Expanding stem, serrated edges. Georgia forms. H.
F. McIntosh’s collection, Albany, Georgia.
]
An ancient aboriginal skull from Henderson County, Illinois, contributed
to the National Museum by M. Tandy, had a hole in the squamosal bone on
the left side, inserted in which, when found and received by the museum,
was a stone arrow-point of the perforator or drill type.
Fig. 84 is a drawing of an obsidian-pointed Indian arrow found in
Arizona after a fight between Apaches and miners. The specimen was
picked up some fifty years ago. It is grooved as were most arrows, and
particles of dried blood still adhere to the shaft, and may be observed
in the grooves. The feathers are cut off in order that it might be
withdrawn, without enlarging the wound. Miss M. Gorton owns this
interesting specimen.
[Illustration:
FIG. 88. (S. 1–2.) Part of a cache found near Salem, Massachusetts.
Material: porphyry. Peabody Museum collection, Salem, Massachusetts.
]
It is quite apparent that flint implements in which the stem expands
from the base are more common in the West and South than in the North,
and yet great numbers of both types (stem expanding and stem
contracting) are very numerous. It is quite easy to classify most of
them on the form of the stem. But others have almost no stem, the barbs
being cut in the shoulders of what were at first leaf-shaped, or oval
implements. There are not many stems which are concave in the base.
Figs. 86 and 99 illustrate several expanding from base types.
Fig. 86 presents seven specimens from the Chesapeake, Virginia, and
Maryland region. One of these has a straight base, six of them stem
expanding, and all are typical quartzite specimens of the region.
Fig. 112 presents some Southern types from Georgia, North and South
Carolina, in the Andover collection. The white quartz and three of the
rhyolite specimens have stem expanding, but in some of the small barbed
objects the stem contracts. Readers are requested to note the range in
material in the South, as these twenty-two specimens show eight
variations of four dominating materials, quartz, rhyolite, chert,
argillite. Fig. 92, from Professor Holmes’s paper on the
Potomac-Chesapeake tidal implements, presents three specimens expanding
from base and three contracting. It will be observed that these forms
were worked out from leaf-shaped objects, approximately indicated by the
dotted lines.
[Illustration:
FIG. 89. (S. 3–4.) Finely chipped object of unusual form from
Kentucky. Material: concretionary flint. F. Wetherington’s
collection, Paducah, Kentucky.
]
As one studies implements and puts to a severe working test the
classification, it becomes clear that while an object may have an
expanding stem, yet there are other features which overshadow the mere
fact that the stem expands. Fig. 96, from Mr. Mitchell’s collection,
shows a specimen in which the point is curved or turned, and the base
beveled off sharply to an angle. The same is true of Fig. 93, from Dr.
Winship’s collection, Minnesota, only that the base is square and there
are no shoulders or barbs. Fig. 89, from Mr. Wetherington’s collection,
Kentucky, is another type similar to these I illustrate, and all three
are beautifully worked implements of the first grade, and it would be
difficult to excel them anywhere in the world.
[Illustration:
FIG. 90. (S. 1–2.) New Jersey types found near Orange, New Jersey. The
central one is weathered rhyolite. The others are jasper and chert.
The two lower ones have prominent stems, and show broad blades. They
are very angular. This form is common in Georgia, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania, but rare elsewhere. Stephen Van Rensselaer’s
collection, Newark, New Jersey.
]
In the entire West are many small delicate points made of semi-precious
stones. A plate of these is shown in Fig. 97, from Mr. Hamilton’s
collection, Wisconsin. Here we have the triangular points, oval knives,
the expanding at base, the slightly barbed, and the deeply barbed. Figs.
98 and 99 present interesting and yet common types of specimens from a
given locality. These range from the triangular to the expanding base
and the contracting base; in Fig. 99 a rare specimen having four notches
is shown. Fig. 100 presents typical Connecticut forms. The one to the
left is a knife. Fig. 102, from Mr. Arnold’s collection, Albany, New
York, presents nine beautiful specimens, in nearly all of which the stem
is straight. The barbs are very long and wing-like, as in the case of
many obsidian, agate, and carnelian points from the Northwest.
Fig. 80, of a buffalo skull found in North Dakota many years ago, and
belonging to the Historical Department of the State of Iowa, illustrates
the penetrating power of the flint arrow-head. This is a long, slender
arrow driven into the skull, so that the point penetrated the brain.
Fig. 81, a skull from California, Mr. H. K. Deisher’s collection,
Pennsylvania, illustrates a human skull in which an arrow-point was
driven into the brain through the frontal bone over the left eye. I have
seen in museums human vertebræ and other bones which were pierced by
flint arrow-heads. Such may be observed in the Ohio State Archæological,
the Peabody, and United States National Museum collections.
In the _American Anthropologist_ for 1901 Dr. Thomas Wilson wrote an
article entitled “Arrow-Wounds.” This is deserving of preservation and
will enable students to realize what an important factor the arrow was
in ancient times. I omit all of Dr. Wilson’s remarks on discoveries of
human remains in foreign countries in which arrow-points were embedded,
and quote a portion of that which relates to the United States:—
“The skull of an ancient Indian man of advanced age, originally received
by the Smithsonian Institution from Dr. L. G. Yates, of Alameda County,
California, and transferred to the Army Medical Museum, exhibits a wound
made by a long flint arrow-point which penetrated the left orbit.
[Illustration:
FIG. 91. (S. 1–2.) Fine broad spear-head. Material: brown flint.
Stephen Van Rensselaer’s collection, Newark, New Jersey.
]
“The arrow-point exhibited belongs to the class usually called
perforators, or drills, but in this instance it was used as an
arrow-point.
“Two specimens of prehistoric flint arrow-points or spear-heads found
inserted in human bones were sent to the National Museum by Dr. John E.
Younglove, of Bowling Green, Kentucky. One had pierced the pelvic bone
and the other is still inserted in the head of a human femur. The
material of both points is the black or brown lustreless pyromachic
flint, common to the country in which it was found. The specimens came
from a cavern about four miles northeast of Bowling Green, and an equal
distance from Old Station.
[Illustration:
FIG. 92. (S. 1–1.) Showing relation of specialized leaf-blade
implements of various kinds to the original blade.
]
“Most of the specimens of arrows and arrow-wounds in the Army Medical
Museum pertain to modern Indian warfare. The arrow-points of iron or
steel show, by actual experience and ocular demonstration, the effect of
these projectiles upon bones, the endurance of the patient, and the
skill of the surgeon; consequently they are of considerable interest.
They also show that none of the arrow-points were poisoned.
[Illustration:
FIG. 93. (S. 1–2.) Quartzite knife. P. D. Winship’s collection, Park
Rapids, Minnesota.
]
“An attack was made by Indians near Pecos River, Texas, September 1,
1870, in which one man was killed, one escaped, and the patient received
an arrow-wound in the head and three gunshot flesh-wounds. Seven days
later he was admitted to the hospital at Fort Concho, Texas, having
traveled part of the distance on foot. He complained of soreness from
the gunshot wounds, but spoke lightly of the ‘scratch’ made by the arrow
on the side of his head. The gunshot wounds healed, but cerebral
complications developed. An effort was made to reopen the wound in the
temple, which proved unsuccessful on account of the resistance of the
temporal bones, and doubt as to the cause of the existing symptoms
prevented the surgeon from making a free incision. The case terminated
fatally September 19, and the autopsy revealed the real injury to have
been caused by the entry of the iron arrow-head half an inch from the
external incision.
“A Mexican was killed by an arrow in an Indian fight seventy-five miles
northwest of Fort Concho, Texas, February 22, 1868. He was treated by W.
M. Notson, Assistant Surgeon, United States Army, who reported:—
[Illustration:
FIG. 94. (S. 1–1.) Seven chipped objects. In the centre is a peculiar
object with wide shoulders and angular sides. This form is found in
the East, but is not common. Its purpose has never been
satisfactorily explained. The object to the right with straight
sides and point made angular is also seldom found save east of the
Mississippi River. Why it was made in this form is not known.
Material: jasper. H. K. Deisher’s collection, Kutztown,
Pennsylvania.
]
“‘When I opened the skull I found an incision extending clear across the
opposite hemisphere, touching the dura mater just above the tentorium.
The dura mater was stained, but I could find no mark on the skull. When
I made the _post mortem_ I found the arrow-head in the brain. When the
patient was hit, he seized the arrow-shaft with both hands and pulled it
out, then dropped and remained unconscious until he died, about six
hours after.’
“Private John Krumholz, Company H, 22d Infantry, was wounded at Fort
Sally, South Dakota, June 3, 1869, by an arrow, which, entering at the
outer canthus of the left eye, penetrated the skull two inches, and is
supposed to have passed between the skull and the dura mater. The
operation for extraction, which was immediately performed, consisted in
sawing nearly through the skull with a Hey’s saw, in close proximity to
the arrow. Recovery was rapid, the soldier returning to duty later.
“Private Snowden, 14th Infantry, was one of a party surprised by
Apaches, March 22, 1866, while en route from Maricopa Wells to Fort
Goodwin, Arizona. He was struck in the back of the head by an arrow,
which penetrated the skull, and nine days later reached Maricopa Wells,
weak and fatigued, but unimpaired in intelligence. He believed the
arrow-point to be within the cranium, since, in pulling on the shaft
after receiving the injury, nothing but the shaft responded. The usual
treatment was being given with success, when in examining the scalp
there was discovered a small tumefaction over the parietal side of the
left occipito-parietal suture. Pressure caused the issue of a small
quantity of serous matter from the cicatrix of the arrow-wound. This was
enlarged, and a probe passed into it was made to feel along the fissure
in the bone, when it struck something metallic. The cranium was laid
bare by a crucial incision, and with considerable difficulty a hoop-iron
arrow-head one and three fourths inches long and one half inch in
breadth was withdrawn from the brain. About a dram of pus followed it.
After the operation the right side of the body was observed to be
paralyzed. The patient’s condition fluctuated, but the first week in May
his improvement had been such as to cause belief in his ultimate
recovery. On the 7th he ate something which disagreed with him, and
gradually grew worse until the morning of the 13th, when death ensued.
The _post mortem_ showed that the brain tissue to the extent of three
fourths of an inch around the track of the arrow-point was softened and
disorganized.
“Private William Drum, 14th Infantry, was wounded in a fight with
Apaches, November 11, 1867. One arrow entered over the malar bone of the
left side of the face, and passed along the lower border of the orbit to
within half an inch of the nose. Another arrow entered through the
tendons of the latissimus dorsi muscle on the right side, and passed
directly backward toward the spine under the deep muscles, penetrating
two and one half inches. On the 19th the arrow-point was cut out, the
parts healed by first intention, and on December 3 the patient was
returned to duty.
[Illustration:
FIG. 95. (S. 1–1.) Obsidian, agatized wood, and carnelian points.
These specimens are half-expanding bases, but the barbs and the
serrated edges are distinguishing features. C. F. Case’s collection,
Sams Valley, Oregon.
]
“John Fenske, a civilian, aged nineteen years, came to Fort Ridgely,
Minnesota, on the night of August 20, 1862. He had been wounded on the
previous day by an Indian arrow, shot from a distance of about twelve
feet, which had entered horizontally between the third and fourth ribs
on the left side, close to the vertebræ. The arrow—a barbed one with a
head about three inches long—was buried an inch below the surface of the
skin and had penetrated the left lung. On account of the barbs, it
became necessary to make a large perpendicular incision in order to
remove the arrow-head, which required considerable pulling, the sharp
edges having been wedged in between the ribs with such force as to bend
them over on each side. After dressing and the usual treatment, a
healthy suppuration ensued, and the wound closed by granulation in
thirteen days. The surgeon reported that ‘it was evident in this case
that the arrow had penetrated the lung,’ which diagnosis was fully
corroborated by the objective as well as the subjective symptoms. The
patient left the hospital for his home, September 30, 1862, forty-two
days after receiving the injury. The surgeon met this patient four years
after and found the pleural symptoms considerably ameliorated.
[Illustration:
FIG. 96. (S. 1–2.) A beautiful leaf-shaped implement. This was
originally a thin, leaf-shaped blade and was notched at one end. The
point was somewhat curved, an unusual feature, although occasionally
found in specimens in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. S. D.
Mitchell’s collection, Ripon, Wisconsin.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 97. (S. 1–1.) Thirty-four clear California points from the
Columbia Valley, Oregon. Materials: chalcedony, agate, and jasper.
H. P. Hamilton’s collection, Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 98. (S. 1–3.) These seventeen specimens are the common forms of
the upper St. Lawrence basin. Many of them are of expanding base
type. Locality, Wisconsin. Materials: quartz, sugar quartz,
argillite, and flint. F. M. Caldwell’s collection, Venice, Illinois.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 99. (S. 1–4.) Sixteen various chipped implements of blue
hornstone. These are types of the upper St. Lawrence basin. F. M.
Caldwell’s collection. Venice, Illinois.
]
“A remarkable case of arrow-wounds was that of Private Osborn, 2d
Nebraska Cavalry, wounded in a skirmish with Indians near Pawnee
Reserve, Nebraska, June 23, 1863. Eight arrows entered different parts
of his body, and all were extracted except the head of one which had
entered at the outer and lower margin of the right scapula and passed
upward and inward through the upper lobe of the right lung or trachea.
The hemorrhage was so severe that all hope of his recovery was
abandoned. The patient, however, rallied, but continued to suffer great
pain on swallowing or coughing, and occasionally spat blood. In July,
1866, more than three years afterward, he called upon Dr. J. H. Peabody
to be examined for a pension. Upon probing through a small fistulous
opening just above the superior end of the sternum, the point of the
arrow was found resting against the bone about an inch and a half below,
the head lying flat against the trachea and esophagus, with the carotid
artery, jugular vein, and nerves overlying it. After some difficulty the
point of the arrow was raised above the sternum, and it was extracted
without the loss of an ounce of blood, the edge grating against the
sheath of the innominata artery during the operation. His health
underwent a remarkable improvement, and the operator, in January, 1869,
reported him perfectly well. His pension was not allowed.
[Illustration:
FIG. 100. (S. 1–3.) Compare these specimens carefully with those found
elsewhere in the country and note the difference. Materials: black
flint and quartzite. Benton Holcomb’s collection, Simsbury,
Connecticut.
]
“Private Spillman, 7th Cavalry, was wounded June 12, 1867, about a mile
from Fort Dodge, Kansas, by a party of Kiowas, who made a dash upon the
herd of horses he was guarding. He received three arrow-wounds—one in
the right shoulder; one in the right side, striking the rib; and a third
through the right lumbar region, penetrating the abdominal cavity eight
inches or more. The last-mentioned wound was enlarged, two fingers were
inserted on each side of the shaft until the base of the iron head was
reached, the fingers serving as a guide and protection when, traction
being made, the arrow was withdrawn. The wound proved mortal.”
And so I might continue giving illustrations of the power and force of
Indian arrows. Students are referred to the Bibliography for further
titles upon this subject. I would suggest that readers who expect to
visit Washington at some time in the near future, call at the Army and
Medical Museum and see the interesting exhibits on view illustrating the
matters touched upon in the preceding pages.
The use of drills as war arrow-points brings up an interesting subject,
and would indicate that many of the things that we have named according
to our own fancy were doubtless made use of by the Indians for totally
different purposes from those to which we have assigned them. Drills—the
smaller kind—certainly possess great power of penetration, and when
discharged may have entered to a greater depth. The broader points,
however, would produce a more tearing wound and cause greater flow of
blood. Broad points were more in evidence as hunting-points, for the
obvious reason that if the deer or other game lost blood freely, its
capture became more certain.
Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian, made a collection of buffalo and
human bones, in which arrow-heads were embedded. In several of the
buffalo ribs and scapulæ were arrow-points which had been shot _through_
the animal, piercing the bone on the inner side. Wilson says that such
specimens “illustrate the force with which an arrow can be shot by the
bow, and, because of its initial velocity, there is no comminution of
the bones. The edges around the wounds are not fractured or fissured on
either side; there are no splinters made by the arrow on entering or
leaving. This is due to the same principle that a pistol-ball fired at
short range passes through a pane of glass without shattering it.”
A paper by W. Thornton Parker, M.D., describes the arrow and its mode of
manufacture, and magnifies the malignity of arrow-wounds. The author
explains the apocryphal difference between hunting- and war-arrows,
saying:—
“The head of the war-arrow is shorter and broader than that of the
hunting-arrow, and is attached to the shaft at right angles with the
slot which fits the bow-string, the object being to allow the arrow in
flight more readily to pass between the human ribs, while the head of
the hunting-arrow, which is long and narrow, is attached perpendicularly
to the slot, to allow it to pass readily between the ribs of the running
buffalo.
“Ashhurst wrote an extensive article on arrow-wounds. He takes a
favorable view of the curability of arrow-wounds, which is borne out by
the cases cited, and says: ‘Those penetrating the chest and wounding the
lung, although serious, are by no means mortal.... If the patient
survives the hemorrhage, the prognosis is favorable, for the consecutive
inflammation is trifling and requires no treatment beyond placing the
patient at rest and affording a supply of pure warm air.’
[Illustration:
FIG. 101. (S. 1–1.) Large spear-point from Coshocton County, Ohio.
Material: clear chalcedony. W. C. Mills’s collection.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 103. (S. 1–3.) Large, notched flint spear-head. One of the
largest in America. Owned by G. F. Arvedson, Carpentersville,
Illinois.
]
“His table of arrow-wounds in the chest shows that out of eighteen cases
there were thirteen deaths.”
In 1528 the Spanish traveler, Cabeza De Vaca, said that the Indian
arrows were discharged with such force that the armor worn by the
Spaniards did not always avail. He stated that the Indians in Florida
used bows as thick as the lower part of one’s own arm and discharged
arrows at a distance of two hundred paces “with so great precision that
they missed nothing.”
He himself observed an arrow sticking in the base of an elm tree to the
depth of a span (four inches).
Fig. 87 illustrates two specimens from near Albany, Georgia, typical
Southern forms, the edges being slightly serrated. Figs. 101, 104, and
three in 83, present objects with almost straight stems, 104 presenting
Oregon types and 83 Pennsylvania. Fig. 86 marks the beginning of the
transition from the straight stem to the stem contracting from the base.
Such objects, with abnormally long stems, were undoubtedly originally
much longer specimens. The point broke off and the specimen was
re-chipped and made serviceable again.
White quartz was largely used in the South and in New England, also
yellow quartz in North and South Carolina and Virginia. Quartz was
harder to chip than other materials. Therefore, there are fewer highly
specialized forms in quartz than in either flint or argillite. Yet
examples are not wanting in which even so refractory material as quartz
was worked down, chipped, and made into a very beautiful arrow-point or
spear-head.
[Illustration:
FIG. 104. (_S. 1–1._)
_Chipped implements, from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. B. W.
Arnold’s collection, Albany, New York. Reproduced in natural colors.
Highest grade of workmanship. Materials: agate, carnelian, jasper,
chalcedony, etc._
]