STONE ART
BY
GERARD FOWKE
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 57
Basis for the work 57
Classification of objects and materials 57
The arts and their distribution 60
Districts 60
Descriptive terms 62
Ground and pecked articles 62
Grooved axes 62
Celts 72
Gouges 82
Chisels and scrapers 83
Chipped celts 86
Hematite celts 86
Pestles 87
Pitted stones 91
Cupped stones 91
Mullers 93
Grinding and polishing stones 93
Hammerstones 94
Grooved stones other than axes 95
Mortars 96
Sinkers 97
Perforated stones 98
Discoidal stones 99
Spuds 109
Plummets 110
Cones 113
Hemispheres 114
Paint stones 115
Ceremonial stones 115
Functions and purposes 115
Gorgets 116
Banner stones 120
Boat-shape stones 124
Picks 125
Spool-shape ornaments 125
Bird-shape stones 125
Shaft rubbers 126
Tubes 126
Pipes 128
Chipped stone articles 132
Materials and manufacture 132
Spades 133
Turtlebacks 136
Smaller chipped implements 139
Materials and modes of manufacture 139
Classification of the implements 142
Stemless flints 143
Characters and uses 143
Larger implements 144
Smaller objects 147
Stemmed flints 150
Straight or taper stems 150
Expanding stems 156
Perforators 164
Character and uses 164
Stemless forms 165
Stemmed forms 167
Blunt arrowheads, or “bunts” 168
Scrapers 169
Stemmed 169
Stemless 169
Cores 170
Flakes 171
Miscellaneous forms 174
Notes on beveled flints 177
ILLUSTRATIONS
Museum number Page
FIG. 29. Grooved ax, showing groove projections (82379) 63
30. Grooved ax, showing pointed edge (99318) 64
31. Grooved ax, showing groove entirely around (83360) 65
32. Grooved ax, slender, showing groove entirely around
(116240) 65
33. Grooved ax, showing grooved back 66
34. Grooved ax, showing grooved back (90512) 66
35. Grooved ax, showing rounded back (71575) 67
36. Grooved ax, showing flattened curved back 68
37. Grooved ax, showing flattened straight back (71258) 68
38. Grooved ax, Keokuk type (71566) 69
39. Grooved ax, showing adze form (84348) 69
40. Grooved ax, showing diagonal groove (72211) 69
41. Grooved ax, showing wide edge (90862) 69
42. Grooved ax, showing curved edge (91746) 70
43. Grooved ax, showing single groove projection (62907) 70
44. Grooved adze (114526) 71
45. Grooved adze, showing curved blade (131483) 71
46. Notched ax, showing polished edge (62753) 72
47. Celt, showing blade thick near edge (71413) 73
48. Celt, showing blade thick near edge (91518) 73
49. Celt, showing long, slender form (114494) 74
50. Celt, nearly round section (65652) 75
51. Celt, nearly round section (65661) 75
52. Celt, showing nearly diamond section (65698) 76
53. Celt (112509) 77
54. Celt (83111) 77
55. Celt (82917) 77
56. Celt, showing “bell-shape” and roughening for handle
(Tho. 7882) 78
57. Celt, showing rectangular section (114151) 78
58. Celt, showing wedge-shape (98427) 79
59. Celt, showing half-elliptical section (72059) 79
60. Celt, showing half-elliptical section (65440) 81
61. Celt, showing concave sides (115504) 81
62. Thin, polished celt (83056) 82
63. Thin, polished celt (114021) 82
64. Thin, polished celt (114157) 82
65. Celt, showing thin, gouge-form edge (92034) 83
66. Celt, chisel-form (91418) 83
67. Celt, chisel-form (82464) 83
68. Celt, chisel-form (131697) 83
69. Celt, chisel-form (82949) 84
70. Celt, chisel-form (116300) 84
71. Celt, showing scraper-form edge 85
72. Scraper (83346) 85
73. Scraper or adze, with projecting ridge (72289) 85
74. Adze or scraper (90528) 85
75. Chipped celt (87571) 86
76. Chipped celt (83272) 86
77. Chipped celt (113837) 86
78. Hematite celt (91920) 87
79. Hematite celt (113925) 87
80. Hematite celt (87843) 87
81. Hematite celt (90733) 87
82. Handled pestle, with expanding base (90876) 88
83. Pestle, long cylindrical form (115416) 89
84. Pestle, conical (114254) 89
85. Pestle (65452) 90
86. Pestle (71428) 90
87. Pestle, grooved for handle (72276) 90
88. Pestle (131524) 90
89. Cupped stone or paint cup (82509) 93
90. Muller, showing polished surface (116134) 93
91. Muller, showing polished surface (132119) 94
92. Hammerstone (114344) 95
93. Grooved round stone (72277) 95
94. Grooved hammer (107300) 96
95. Discoidal stone (115414) 100
96. Discoidal stone, with perforation (88137) 101
97. Discoidal stone, with perforation (30234) 101
98. Discoidal stone, with secondary depression (82619) 102
99. Discoidal stone, in form of a ring (62708) 102
100. Discoidal stone (90497) 103
101. Discoidal stone (114330) 103
102. Discoidal stone, convex (83142) 104
103. Discoidal stone (91805) 105
104. Discoidal stone (82953) 106
105. Discoidal stone, with V-shaped edges (116198) 108
106. Discoidal stone, used as mortar (131566) 108
107. Discoidal stone, probably used as hammer (97763) 108
108. Discoidal pottery fragment (115873) 109
109. Spud (115544) 110
110. Spud (115925) 110
111. Spud (88130) 111
112. Plummet, grooved near one end (82490) 111
113. Plummet, double-grooved (90746) 111
114. Plummet, grooved near middle (114349) 112
115. Plummet, grooved lengthwise (65318) 112
116. Plummet, grooveless, perforated (65319) 112
117. Plummet, double cone in shape (132140) 112
118. Plummet (131923) 112
119. Plummet (90850) 113
120. Plummet, end ground flat (98659) 113
121. Plummet (116072) 113
122. Plummet, cylindrical (71445) 113
123. Cone (116339) 113
124. Cone (72305) 113
125. Cone (71501) 114
126. Cone (91944) 114
127. Hemispheres 114
128. Hemisphere (90729) 115
129. Paint stone (90731) 115
130. Gorget (88014) 118
131. Gorget (?) (Tho. 7834) 118
132. Gorget, reel-shape (113721) 119
133. Gorget (90649) 119
134. Gorget (72125) 120
135. Gorget, boat shape (114354) 121
136. Gorget, resembling boat-shape stone (107323) 121
137. Banner stone (90657) 121
138. Banner stone (115685) 121
139. Banner stone, reel-shape (63186) 122
140. Banner stone, with horn-like projections (113782) 122
141. Banner stone, crescent-shape (88586) 122
142. Banner stone, crescent-shape (115871) 122
143. Banner stone, crescent-shape (115900) 123
144. Butterfly banner stone 123
145. Butterfly banner stone (90831) 123
146. Banner stone (90714) 123
147. Boat-shape stone (87665) 124
148. Boat-shape stone (72347) 124
149. Pendant (116008) 125
150. Pick (113742) 125
151. Spool-shape ornament (38128) 125
152. Bird-shape stone (88351) 126
153. Shaft rubber 127
154. Tube, one end flattened (90713) 128
155. Tube, conical (88022) 128
156. Tube, hour-glass form (62869) 129
157. Tube, cylindrical (88588) 129
158. Pipe, flat base (90840) 129
159. Pipe (116048) 130
160. Pipe (82390) 130
161. Pipe, ornamented (72134) 130
162. Pipe (115452) 130
163. Pipe, long-stemmed (82832) 131
164. Pipe, short-stemmed (115546) 131
165. Pipe (114168) 131
166. Pipe (114310) 131
167. Pipe (62808) 132
168. Pipe (116024) 132
169. Chipped spade with pointed ends (82661) 134
170. Chipped spade with rounded ends (88155) 134
171. Chipped spade, ovoid (71695) 136
172. Chipped spade (65683) 137
173. Chipped spade, showing handle notches (90925) 138
174. Chipped spade (88428) 138
175. Chipped disk, or “turtleback” (15335) 138
176. Diagram, explaining terms 143
177. Triangular chipped flint (87556_a_) 144
178. Chipped flint (90672) 144
179. Chipped flint (116058) 145
180. Chipped flint, somewhat bell-shape (82883) 145
181. Chipped flint, elliptical outline (71562_a_) 145
182. Chipped flint, leaf-shape or oval outline (88353) 145
183. Chipped flint (132186) 146
184. Chipped flint, large, pointed elliptical outline
(88122) 146
185. Chipped flint, large, long, sharp point (113767) 146
186. Chipped flint, large (114486) 147
187. Chipped flint (91921_a_) 147
188. Chipped flint (114277) 147
189. Chipped flint, with shoulders (115419) 147
190. Chipped flint, small (62883) 148
191. Chipped flint, triangular (91754_a_) 148
192. Chipped flint, asymmetric (115404) 148
193. Chipped flint, concave edges (82832) 148
194. Chipped flint, triangular (88072) 148
195. Chipped flint, small (131633) 149
196. Chipped flint, short, convex edges (114539) 149
197. Chipped flint, triangular (83235) 149
198. Chipped flint, concave edges (65811) 149
199. Chipped flint, convex base (114405) 149
200. Chipped flint, edges concave (91921_b_) 150
201. Chipped flint, pentagonal (115634) 150
202. Chipped flint, narrow and thick (115665) 150
203. Chipped flint, stemmed, barbless (87555) 151
204. Chipped flint, stemmed, barbless (97754) 151
205. Chipped flint, expanding shoulder (132212) 152
206. Chipped flint, double-curved edges (83409_a_) 152
207. Chipped flint, double-curved edges (113605_a_) 152
208. Chipped flint, convex edges, long, tapering stem
(72123) 152
209. Chipped flint, with long, tapering stem (82718) 153
210. Stemmed chipped flint, diamond or lozenge shape
(91859_a_) 153
211. Stemmed chipped flint (65803) 153
212. Stemmed chipped flint (115405) 154
213. Stemmed chipped flint, ovoid (71562_b_) 154
214. Stemmed chipped flint, short blade (90750) 154
215. Stemmed chipped flint, symmetric outline (113821) 155
216. Stemmed chipped flint (113726) 155
217. Chipped flint, with very long, slender stem (87847) 156
218. Stemmed chipped flint, with but one barb or shoulder
(91731) 156
219. Stemmed chipped flint, short (90673) 156
220. Stemmed chipped flint (87664) 156
221. Stemmed chipped flint, roughly made (65817) 157
222. Stemmed chipped flint (65786) 157
223. Stemmed chipped flint (90739_a_) 157
224. Stemmed chipped flint, edges convex (88323) 157
225. Stemmed chipped flint, with long barbs (83409_b_) 158
226. Stemmed chipped flint (131775) 158
227. Stemmed chipped flint (71562_c_) 159
228. Stemmed chipped flint, broad point (71562_d_) 159
229. Stemmed chipped flint, slender point (87837) 159
230. Stemmed chipped flint (90760) 159
231. Stemmed chipped flint (114558) 160
232. Stemmed chipped flint, thin (91921_d_) 160
233. Stemmed chipped flint (116059) 160
234. Stemmed chipped flint (113741) 160
235. Stemmed chipped flint (114340) 160
236. Stemmed chipped flint, slender, with small stem
(116047) 161
237. Stemmed chipped flint, oval outline, notched (97547) 161
238. Stemmed chipped flint (65614) 162
239. Stemmed chipped flint, notched, very wide stem
(113894) 162
240. Stemmed chipped flint, notched, very wide stem
(90739_b_) 162
241. Stemmed chipped flint (82686) 163
242. Stemmed chipped flint, projecting shoulders
(91754_b_) 163
243. Stemmed chipped flint (91921_c_) 163
244. Stemmed chipped flint, very rough (91136) 164
245. Perforator, not stemmed (87556_b_) 165
246. Perforator, not stemmed, double pointed (90843) 165
247. Perforator, not stemmed, double pointed (90759) 166
248. Perforator, not stemmed, rough base (91924) 166
249. Perforator, not stemmed, expanding base (87951) 166
250. Perforator, not stemmed, expanding base (88019) 166
251. Perforator, stemmed (113605_b_) 167
252. Perforator, stemmed, very wide shoulders (91754_c_) 167
253. Perforator, stemmed 167
254. Perforator, stemmed (83409_c_) 167
255. Perforator, stemmed, with cutting point (132226) 168
256. Blunt arrowhead, or “bunt” (132204) 168
257. Stemmed scraper (132190) 169
258. Stemmed scraper (71560) 169
259. Stemless scraper, celt form (131749) 170
260. Stemless scraper, flake (90822) 170
261. Cores (97526) 171
262. Core (97520) 171
263. Flake, chipped for scraper (91968) 173
264. Flake, chipped for knife or arrowhead (97537) 174
265. Flake, slender, probably for lancet (88018) 174
266. Stemmed chipped flint (132176) 174
267. Stemmed chipped flint, winged (132213) 175
268. Stemmed chipped flint (132174) 175
269. Stemmed chipped flint, barbed 175
270. Stemmed chipped flint, broad (132235_b_) 175
271. Stemmed chipped flint 176
272. Stemmed chipped flint, slender (132208) 176
273. Stemmed chipped flint 176
274. Stemmed chipped flint, triangular 176
275. Stemmed chipped flint (132235_a_) 176
276. Chipped flint, with sharp-edged stem (63150) 177
277. Stemmed chipped flint, point blunted from use 177
278. Stemmed chipped flint 177
STONE ART
By GERARD FOWKE
INTRODUCTION.
BASIS FOR THE WORK.
The collection of the Bureau of Ethnology includes almost every type of
stone implement or ornament, and as the investigations and explorations
of the collaborators have extended over nearly all the eastern and
central portions of the Mississippi valley, it furnishes a substantial
basis for showing the geographic distribution of various forms of
objects in use among the aboriginal inhabitants.
It has not been deemed advisable to utilize material contained in other
collections. Should this be done there would be no reason for drawing
upon one rather than another, and if it were once begun the examination
would finally extend to every collection made from American localities,
a study which, although perhaps desirable, would transcend the scope of
the Bureau plans.
Much that has been published in regard to the distribution of relics in
various portions of the country is of little value to a paper of this
kind, since few of the objects are sufficiently illustrated or referred
to any class in other than the most general terms; so that it is
frequently impossible to determine the group in which a given article
should be placed. Partly for this reason, partly because the primary
purpose is description of a certain collection made in a definite way,
little space is given to the descriptive work of predecessors in the
field of archeology. The general results of previous work are, however,
carefully weighed in the conclusions reached.
CLASSIFICATION OF OBJECTS AND MATERIALS.
The ordinary division into chipped and pecked or ground implements has
been adopted: the former including all such as are more easily worked
by flaking, and the latter including those made from stone suitable
for working down by pecking into form with stone hammers or by similar
means. The system of nomenclature in general use has been retained,
as it is now familiar to students of North American archeology, and,
while not entirely satisfactory in some respects, is perhaps as good as
can be devised in the present state of knowledge.
Careful study of the entire collection has failed to show the slightest
difference in the form, finish, or material of implements from the same
locality, whether found in mounds or graves or on the surface; hence no
attempt is made to separate the two classes of objects. Allowance is to
be made for the weathering of a surface specimen, but this is the only
distinction.
It is not always easy to identify a stone, even with a fresh surface;
in a weathered specimen it is often impossible. For this reason the
material of which a specimen is made may not be correctly named;
frequently the alteration due to exposure will change the appearance of
a rock very much, and in such a case the best that can be done is to
tell what it looks most like. The material of a majority of specimens
however, or at least the classes of rock to which they belong, as
granite, porphyry, etc., are correctly named; to give a more exact name
would be possible only by the destruction or injury of the specimen.
There are a few terms used which may be here explained.
“Compact quartzite” is a very hard, close-grained, siliceous rock,
sometimes nearly a flint, and again closely approaching novaculite.
“Greenstone” may be diorite or diabase, or it may be a very compact
dark sandstone or quartzite so weathered that its nature can not be
determined from superficial observation. “Argillite” refers to any
slaty rock; it may be so soft as to be easily cut with a knife, or
nearly as hard as quartzite. Usually it is greenish in color.
A comprehensive study of all available collections will no doubt modify
materially the classification and system of types here presented.
The quotations from eminent anthropologists given below show the
difficulties in the way of establishing a satisfactory system of types,
or of assigning certain forms to particular localities. In most of
these quotations the substance only of the author’s remarks is given.
According to Dr. E. B. Tylor, the flint arrows of the Dakota, the
Apache, or the Comanche might easily be mistaken for the weapons dug
up on the banks of the Thames;[1] while cores of flint in Scandinavia
and of obsidian in Mexico are exactly alike,[2] and a tray filled with
European arrowheads can not be distinguished from a tray of American
ones.[3] Prof. Otis T. Mason observes that the great variety of form in
such weapons after they are finished is due partly to nature and partly
to the workman’s desire to produce a certain kind of implement. All
sorts of pebbles lie at the hand of the savage mechanic, none of them
just what he wants. He selects the best.[4] Perhaps the truth about the
shape is that the savage found it thus and let it so remain.[5]
The state of things among the lower tribes which presents itself to the
student is a substantial similarity in knowledge, arts, and customs,
running through the whole world. Not that the whole culture of all
tribes is alike--far from it; but if any art or custom belonging to
a low tribe is selected at random, the likelihood is that something
substantially like it may be found in at least one place thousands
of miles off, though it frequently happens that there are large
intervening areas where it has not been observed.[6]
On the whole, it seems most probable that many of the simpler weapons,
implements, etc., have been invented independently by various savage
tribes. Though they are remarkably similar, they are at the same time
curiously different. The necessaries of life are simple and similar all
over the world. The materials with which men have to deal are also very
much alike; wood, bone, and to a certain extent stone, have everywhere
the same properties. The obsidian flakes of the Aztecs resemble the
flint flakes of our ancestors, not so much because the ancient Briton
resembled the Aztec, as because the fracture of flint is like that
of obsidian. So also the pointed bones used as awls are necessarily
similar all over the world. Similarity exists, in fact, rather in
the raw material than in the manufactured article, and some even of
the simplest implements of stone are very different among different
races.[7]
Tylor again says:
When, however, their full value has been given to the
differences in the productions of the Ground Stone Age,
there remains a residue of a most remarkable kind. In the
first place, a very small number of classes, flakes, knives,
scrapers, spear and arrow heads, celts, and hammers take in
the great mass of specimens in museums; and in the second
place, the prevailing character of these implements, whether
modern or thousands of years old, whether found on this side
of the world or on the other, is a marked uniformity. The
ethnographer who has studied the stone implements of Europe,
Asia, North or South America, or Polynesia, may consider the
specimens from the district he has studied as types from which
those of other districts differ, as a class, by the presence
or absence of a few peculiar instruments, and individually in
more or less important details of shape or finish, unless, as
sometimes happens, they do not differ perceptibly at all. So
great is this uniformity in the stone implements of different
places and times, that it goes far to neutralize their value
as distinctive of different races. It is clear that no great
help in tracing the minute history of the growth and migration
of tribes is to be got from an arrowhead which might have
come from Polynesia, or Siberia, or the Isle of Man, or from
a celt which might be, for all its appearance shows, Mexican,
Irish, or Tahitian. If an observer, tolerably acquainted with
stone implements, had an unticketed collection placed before
him, the largeness of the number of specimens which he would
not confidently assign, by mere inspection, to their proper
countries, would serve as a fair measure of their general
uniformity. Even when aided by mineralogical knowledge, often
a great help, he would have to leave a large fraction of the
whole in an unclassified heap, confessing that he did not know
within thousands of miles or thousands of years where and when
they were made.
How, then, is this remarkable uniformity to be explained?
The principle that man does the same thing under the same
circumstances will account for much, but it is very doubtful
whether it can be stretched far enough to account for even
the greater proportion of the facts in question. The other
side of the argument is, of course, that resemblance is due to
connection, and the truth is made up of the two, though in what
proportion we do not know.[8]
While the several authors quoted do not fully agree, and some are
even slightly self-contradictory, still, if the statements are to be
taken at their face value, it would seem that efforts to make such
classifications are mainly a waste of time.
It may be premised that in every class of implements there are almost
as many forms as specimens, if every variation in size or pattern is to
be considered; and these merge into one another imperceptibly. Not only
is this the case with individual types, but the classes themselves,
totally unlike as their more pronounced forms may be, gradually
approach one another until there is found a medium type whose place can
not be definitely fixed.
THE ARTS AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION.
DISTRICTS.
As space would be needlessly occupied by attempting to name each
county, the area from which specimens have been obtained is, for
convenience, divided into districts. These divisions are for use in
this article only, and are not intended as archeologic districts.
In the tables given under each heading, the names of counties or
districts show where the types described are obtained; the columns
following show the number of specimens of each material mentioned in
the collection of the Bureau.
Where a limited area only has been examined in any division, the name
of the county is usually given; but where specimens of any kind have
been obtained from different counties near one another, they are
assigned to the district including those counties. The districts are as
follows:
_Arkansas._
Northeastern: Between White and Mississippi rivers.
Southeastern: Between White and Washita rivers from Clarendon
to Arkadelphia.
Southwestern: West of Washita river and south of Arkadelphia,
including Bowie and Red River counties, Texas.
Central: From Dardanelles southward and eastward to the above
limits.
_Alabama._
Northeastern: Bordering Tennessee river east of Decatur.
Northwestern: Bordering Tennessee river west of Decatur.
Coosa: Bordering Coosa river southward to and including Dallas
county.
Tuscaloosa: Bordering the Tuscaloosa and Little Tombigbee, and
extending a short distance below their confluence.
_Ohio._
Miami valley: The country along the two Miami rivers, including
Shelby county on the north and Madison and Brown counties on
the east.
Scioto valley: South of Franklin county, including Adams and
Lawrence counties.
Central: Including Union, Knox, Perry, and Franklin counties,
and the area within these limits.
_Wisconsin._
Southwestern: The counties bordering on either side of
Mississippi river from La Crosse to Dubuque (Iowa).
Eastern: The portion between Lake Michigan, Lake Winnebago, and
the Illinois line.
Southern: Dane and adjoining counties.
_Iowa._
Keokuk: The southeastern corner of the state and adjacent
portions of Illinois and Missouri.
_Tennessee._
Eastern: All the mountain district, with the extreme
southwestern part of Virginia.
Western: From Mississippi river to and including the tier of
counties east of the Tennessee.
Northern: The northern half of the interior portion.
Southern: The southern half of this portion.
_South Carolina._
Northwestern: North and west of a line from Lancaster to
Columbia. As no other portion of the state has been examined
under direction of the Bureau, only the name of the state is
used herein, reference being always to this section.
_Georgia._
Northwestern: The portion northwest of the Chattahoochee.
Southwestern: Area contiguous to the lower Chattahoochee and
Flint river.
Savannah: The vicinity of the city of Savannah, where a large
collection was gathered.
_Kentucky._
Northeastern: Between Kentucky, Big Sandy, and Ohio rivers.
Southeastern: From Estill and Cumberland counties to the
Tennessee and Virginia state lines.
Central: Between Green and Ohio rivers, west of the last
described districts.
Southern: From Green river southward and as far westward as
Christian county.
Western: West of Green river and Christian county.
_North Carolina._
Western: West of Charlotte.
Central: Between Charlotte and Raleigh.
_Illinois._
Southwestern: From the mouth of the Cumberland to Washington
county, and thence to the Mississippi.
DESCRIPTIVE TERMS.
The various forms of implements will now be considered. As stated
above, the names given the various articles are those by which they are
usually known; but it may be well to define some of the terms used.
In the grooved axes, _edge_ refers to the cutting portion; _blade_, to
the part below the groove; _poll_ or _head_, to that above the groove;
_face_, to the wider or flat portion of the surface; _side_, to the
narrower part; _front_, to that side farther from the hand, and _back_,
to the side nearer the hand when in use.
In celts, the terms are the same, so far as they are applicable;
_blade_ referring to the lower half of the implement; that is, to the
portion on which the cutting edge is formed.
GROUND AND PECKED ARTICLES.
GROOVED AXES.
The implements known as grooved axes seem to be of general distribution
throughout the United States; being, so far can be learned from various
writers, much more numerous east of Mississippi river than west of it.
It must be remembered, however, that thousands of diligent collectors
have carefully searched for such things in the east, while in the west
little attention has been paid to them; consequently, deductions are
not to be made concerning their relative abundance or scarcity, until
further knowledge is gained. The same remark will apply to every form
of aboriginal relic.
In the eastern and interior states, the grooved axes are far more
abundant than the celts of the same size[9], because as a rule only the
larger implements of this class are grooved. All the ordinary varieties
of axes and hatchets are found about Lake Champlain, by far the most
abundant being celts, or grooveless axes.[10]
According to Adair and other early observers, the southern Indians had
axes of stone, around the grooved heads of which they twisted hickory
withes to serve as handles; with these they deadened timber by girdling
or cutting through the bark.[11] According to travelers of a later
generation among the western Indians, similar implements were used on
the plains to chop up the vertebræ of buffaloes, which were boiled to
obtain the marrow.[12]
These statements, which might be multiplied, show that such objects
are to be found widely scattered; none, however, give information more
definite than that the axes are “grooved,” no reference being made to
the shape of the ax or the manner of grooving.
The various modes of mounting axes and celts in handles are illustrated
in the Smithsonian Report for 1879.
Stone axes were used in Europe by the Germans at as late a period
as the Thirty Years’ war, and are supposed to have been used by the
Anglo-Saxons at the battle of Hastings.[13]
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Grooved ax, showing groove projections.]
Axes having two grooves occur in considerable numbers in the pueblos
of southwestern United States, but they are extremely rare elsewhere
and unknown in most districts; as the objects are generally small, the
utility of the second groove is not evident.
The arrangement of stone axes may be based upon the manner of forming
the groove. In one class are placed those which in the process of
making had a ridge left encircling the weapon, in which the groove was
formed. This gives the ax greater strength with the same material.
Usually the groove has been worked just deep enough to reach the body
of the ax; that is, to such a depth that should the projections be
ground off there would remain a celt-like implement (as shown in
figure 29, of chlorite-schist, from Sullivan county, Tennessee). The
axes of this class in the Bureau collection are shown in the following
table:
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----------
District. | A | B | C | D | E | F
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----------
Eastern Tennessee | 9 | 8 | 4 | 5 | | 1
Western North Carolina | 1 | 1 | | | |
Central North Carolina | | | 1 | 1 | |
Savannah, Georgia | | 4 | | 1 | |
Butler county, Ohio | | | | 1 | 1 |
--------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----------
KEY:
A = Greenstone.
B = Argillite.
C = Sienite.
D = Granite.
E = Schist.
F = Quartzite.
In the second class the groove is formed by pecking into the body
of the ax after the latter is dressed into shape; in this pattern a
regular continuous line from edge to poll would touch only the margins
of the groove, leaving it beneath. An apparent medium between the
two is sometimes seen, in which there is a projection on the lower
side of the groove only; this is due, usually, to dressing the blade
down thinner after the implement was originally worked to a symmetric
outline. By continuous or long use the edge of the ax becomes broken
or blunted and requires sharpening, and in order to keep the proper
outline to make the tool efficient, it is necessary to work the blade
thinner as it becomes shorter. No such change is required in the poll,
consequently a projection is formed where originally there was no trace
of one.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--Grooved ax, showing pointed edge.]
There are different methods of finishing the ax, which may appear
with either form of groove. The poll may be worked into the shape of
a flattened hemisphere, may be flat on top, with the part between the
groove and the top straight, convex or concave, or may be worked to a
blunt point, with straight or concave lines to the groove. The blade
may taper from the groove to the edge, with straight or curved sides,
which may run almost parallel or may be drawn to a blunt-pointed edge.
This latter form is probably due to breaking or wearing of the blade,
which is reworked, as shown in figure 30, of granite, from Boone
county, Missouri.
There are a very few specimens, as noted below, in which the ax
gradually increases in width from the poll to the edge; but such
specimens seem to be made of stones which had this form approximately
at the beginning, and were worked into such shape as would give a
suitable implement with the least labor.
In nearly every instance the groove of an ax with a groove projection
extends entirely around with practically the same depth, and the blade
of the ax has an elliptical section. There are, however, a few with the
back flattened; and while many of the second division may be similar in
section, and in having the groove extend entirely around, yet in this
class are to be placed nearly all of those only partly encircled by a
groove or showing some other section than the ellipse.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--Grooved ax, showing groove entirely around.]
[Illustration: FIG. 32.--Grooved ax, slender, showing groove entirely
around.]
With these exceptions, the second class of grooved stone axes comprises
seven groups, which may be described and tabulated as follows:
_A._ Grooved entirely around, elliptical section, polls dressed in any
of the ways given above; three or four have the blunt-pointed edge
(figure 31, of granite, from Bradley county, Tennessee).
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Southwestern Illinois | | | 1 | | | | 1 | 1 | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 4 | 3 | | 2 | 2 |15 | 4 | 1 | |
|Central North Carolina | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | |
|Western North Carolina | | 2 | | | | 2 | | | |
|Central Arkansas | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | |
|Ross county, Ohio | | 1 | | | | | | | |
|Green River, Kentucky | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | |
|Northeastern Kentucky | | | | | | 1 | | | 1 |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia| | 4 | 1 | 1 | | | | 1 | |
|Keokuk district, Iowa | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | 1 | | | 2 | | 6 | | | 3 |
|Miami valley, Ohio | 2 | 5 | 1 | | | | | | |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Greenstone.
B = Granite.
C = Diorite.
D = Sandstone.
E = Quartzite.
F = Argillite.
G = Slate.
H = Sienite.
I = Porphyry.
_B._ Long, narrow, and thin, giving a much flattened elliptical
section. These are classed with axes on account of the grooves,
although too thin and usually of material too soft to endure violent
usage. The edges are nicked, striated, or polished, as though from
use as hoes or adzes (figure 32, of argillite, from Bradley county,
Tennessee).
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C |
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | | 18| 1|
|Keokuk district, Iowa | | 1| |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | 1| |
|Montgomery county, North Carolina| | 1| |
|Western North Carolina | 1| | |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | 2|
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Granite.
B = Argillite.
C = Slate.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Grooved ax, showing grooved back.]
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--Grooved ax, showing grooved back.]
_C._ Grooved on both faces and one side; back hollowed, usually in a
straight line the whole length; front drawn in from the groove to give
a narrower edge (figures 33, of porphyry, from Brown county, Ohio, and
34, of granite, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia).
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 1 | 1| | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia| 1 | | 1 | |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | 1 | |
|Brown county, Ohio | | | |1 |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Granite.
B = Argillite.
C = Sienite.
D = Porphyry.
_D._ Same method of grooving; back is rounded, and may be in a straight
or curved line the entire length, or a broken line straight in each
direction from the groove. The type is illustrated by figure 35, of
granite, from Keokuk, Iowa. This specimen is unusually wide and thin;
generally the outlines are similar to those last described.
+-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+
| District. | A | B | C |
+-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+
|Eastern Tennessee | | 5 | |
|Butler county, Ohio | 2 | | |
|Keokuk district, Iowa | 1 | | 1 |
+-------------------------+--------+----------+--------+
KEY:
A = Granite.
B = Argillite.
C = Sienite.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--Grooved ax, showing rounded back.]
_E._ Grooved like the last; same general form, except that the back
is flat (figures 36, of sienite, from Brown county, Ohio, and 37, of
granite, from Drew county, Arkansas).
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
|Miami valley, Ohio | | 2 | 3 | | 5 |
|Brown county, Ohio | | | | 1 | |
|Keokuk district, Ohio | | 1 | | 1 | |
|Brown county, Illinois | | | 1 | 2 | |
|Eastern Tennessee | | 2 | | | 2 |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | | 4 | 1 | 2 |
|Savannah, Georgia | 1 | | | | 1 |
|Northeastern Kentucky | | | 1 | | |
|Licking county, Ohio | | | 1 | | |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Argillite.
C = Granite.
D = Sienite.
E = Greenstone.
_F._ Grooved on both faces and one side, with both sides flat. There
is only one of this form in the collection; it is of argillite, from
Keokuk, Iowa.
_G._ Grooved on faces only, with both sides flat (figure 38, of
granite, from Keokuk, Iowa). There are from the same place one of
porphyry, one of argillite, and three of sienite. This and the
preceding form seem peculiar to that locality.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Grooved ax, showing flattened curved back.]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Grooved ax, showing flattened straight back.]
There are a few exceptional forms which are not placed with those just
given, since they may have some features common to all except the
Keokuk type, while in other respects they differ from all. Among them
are some entire-grooved or grooved only on the two sides and one face;
the general outline may correspond with some of the regular forms, but
one face is curved from poll to edge, while the other is straight or
nearly so (figure 39, of granite, from Wilkes county, North Carolina).
This specimen has a depression, as if worn by the end of a handle, on
the straight face at the lower edge of the groove.
None of this form are long enough for hoes, and although they may have
been used for axes and hatchets, their shape seems to indicate use as
adzes. Besides the one figured there are two from Savannah, Georgia;
three from eastern Tennessee, one with a slight groove and very deep
side notches; and three from western North Carolina, two of them
entire-grooved with groove projections.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Grooved ax, Keokuk type.]
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Grooved ax, showing adze form.]
Another unusual form, which may come under any of the foregoing
figures, has the groove crossing the implement diagonally, in such a
way as to cause the blade to incline backward (figure 40, of granite,
from Carter county, Tennessee). Besides the specimen illustrated, this
form is also represented by one of granite from northwestern North
Carolina with projection for groove; two of argillite from southwestern
Tennessee; one, widest at edge, from Savannah, Georgia; one from Ross
county, Ohio; and two of granite, highly polished, grooved on faces and
one side, with backs flat, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia.
Of the axes wider at the edge than at any point above (of which
the specimen illustrated in figure 41, of granite, from a grave at
Kingsport, Tennessee, may be taken as a type,) there are one of diorite
from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, which seems to have been of
ordinary pattern but broken and redressed to its present form; and from
Savannah, Georgia, one of uniform taper with diagonal groove, and one
widening irregularly until the blade is fully twice the width of the
poll.
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Grooved ax, showing diagonal groove.]
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Grooved ax, showing wide edge.]
Many, if not a majority, of the entire-grooved axes have the groove
wide enough for a very large handle, or for an ordinary withe to be
twisted twice around. In those which have one side ungrooved, the
intention was to admit a wedge between the stone and the curve of
the handle. The handles were very firmly fastened; two axes in the
collection have been broken in such a way that on one side, from the
top half way down, the blade is gone, carrying away the groove on that
side; yet the polish of the groove extends over the fractured surface,
which has never been reworked, showing that the tool was long used
after this accident. As the handles could easily slip off over the top
in specimens thus broken, they must have been tightly lashed; perhaps
gum or glue was used.
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Grooved ax, showing curved edge.]
Partly finished specimens show that the groove was pecked out and the
edge ground before the remaining parts of the ax were worked. Some
have the edge ground sharp and the groove worn smooth or even polished
by long use, while all the rest of the implement retains the original
weathered surface. A stone was always chosen that could be brought to
the desired form with the least labor, and very often one could be
found that required but little work to make a very satisfactory weapon
or implement or even ornament.
Occasionally specimens indicate by the manner of wear their application
to certain kinds of work. Sometimes the edge is curved by the wearing
away of one face until it has almost a gouge form; sometimes the side
of the blade next the hand, again that farthest away, is more worn.
This in time would give the blunt-pointed edge. A peculiar finish of
the lower part of the blade, which is also seen in a few celts, is
shown in figure 42, of sienite, from Carter county, Tennessee. One
half of each face has been left full, and the part opposite hollowed
out, giving an ogee curve to the edge. Figure 43, of granite, from
Jefferson county, Tennessee, seems to have a ridge on the upper side
of the groove; but closer examination shows that it once had a groove
projection, and that afterwards the poll was nearly all broken away and
a new groove made lower down, so that what was originally the lower
projection is now above the groove, the remainder of the poll being
worked down to a point.
There are a few hammers which differ from the ordinary ax only in being
blunt instead of sharp. They may be nothing more than broken axes,
utilized as hammers instead of being resharpened.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Grooved ax, showing single groove projection.]
Under this head may be placed implements plainly used as adzes. They
are much longer than axes in proportion to their other dimensions, have
one face convex, the other straight or concave. They may be placed
in the same class as the specimen shown in figure 39, and also those
represented in figures 44 and 45, from McMinn county, Tennessee. There
is also a similar adze from Saline county, Arkansas. All the specimens
of this class are of argillite.
With the grooved axes is also placed a class of implements that may
be called axes notched on the sides. Many of them were no doubt used
as sinkers; but some of the same form, size, and material have the
notches and sometimes portions of the face worn perfectly smooth, while
frequently they are ground to a sharp edge. Again, even in those that
have not the least polish, the edge shows marks that would seem to
result from use as axes, adzes, or hoes.
There are three divisions of this class of implements, as follows:
_A._ Unworked, except notches; probably sinkers.
+----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D |
+----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 1 | 5 | | |
|Montgomery county, North Carolina | | | 1 | |
|Northeastern Alabama | | | | 5 |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 3 | | | |
+----------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Argillite.
C = Quartzite.
D = Limestone.
_B._ Partly ground sharp edges, mostly with polished notches,
sometimes with faces polished from one notch to the other (figure 46,
of argillite, from Cocke county, Tennessee). In addition there are
11 examples of argillite, besides one of mica-schist from eastern
Tennessee and another of sandstone from Savannah, Georgia.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.--Grooved adze.]
[Illustration: FIG. 45.--Grooved adze, showing curved blade.]
_C._ Roughly chipped, with notches often at the middle but sometimes
nearer one end. Probably most of these were sinkers; but as above
stated the edges show marks of use, apparently in scraping, digging, or
striking. Of these the following examples are in the Bureau collection:
From several localities in eastern Tennessee, 40 of argillite; from
Montgomery county, North Carolina, 24 of argillite and quartzite;
from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and from Savannah, Georgia, a few
specimens of the same materials.
CELTS.
What is true of the uses and distribution of stone axes applies with
much the same force to what are called celts--not a good descriptive
term, but one which is now given to the implement in lieu of something
better. It would appear difficult or impossible to do with these rude
tools any work for which we commonly use an ax or hatchet; and yet,
by the aid of fire, or even without it, the aborigines contrived to
accomplish a great deal with them.
The Maori of New Zealand do all their wonderful work of wood carving
with only a chisel or adze (of stone or shell).[14] Among the Iroquois,
in cutting trees, fire was applied at the root, the coals were scraped
away with a chisel, and this process was repeated until the tree was
felled. The trunk was divided into lengths in the same way. Similarly
canoes and mortars were hollowed out.[15] The Virginia Indians at an
early day employed a similar process. They also cleared ground for
cultivation by deadening trees with their tomahawks,[16] and used adzes
made of shell in cleaning out the charred wood in making canoes.[17]
The Nootka of the northwestern part of the continent in felling a tree
use a flint or elkhorn set in a handle, this being struck with a stone
mallet. In hollowing canoes a musselshell also is used as an adze, and
sometimes fire is applied. The outside is shaped by similar means.[18]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Notched ax, showing polished edge.]
Stone chisels have been found in various steatite quarries, where
vessels and other utensils of this material were made, and the marks of
their use is plain both on the vessels in an unfinished state and on
the cores, as well as on the quarry face.[19]
The different ways of hafting, as shown by specimens in the Bureau
collection, were as follows:
(1) A hole was cut entirely through a stick and the celt was inserted
so that it would project on both sides;
(2) The hole was cut partly through, and the celt was pushed in as far
as it would go;
(3) The top of the celt was set in a socket of deer horn, which was put
into a handle as in form 2;
(4) Small celt-shaped knives or scrapers were set into the end of a
piece of antler long enough to be used as a handle;
(5) A forked branch was so cut as to make two prongs of nearly equal
length, and the celt was fastened to the end of one, parallel with it,
the other being used to guide and steady it, a prong being held in each
hand;
(6) The fork of a root or branch was trimmed so as to make a flat face
at any desired angle, to which the celt was lashed, a shoulder, against
which the end of the celt was set, being sometimes cut in the wood;
(7) A stick was split its entire length and a single turn taken around
the celt, the ends being brought together and tied, forming a round
handle;
(8) A stick was split part way, one fork cut off and the other wrapped
once or twice and tied, thus forming a round handle of solid wood.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--Celt, showing blade thick near edge.]
[Illustration: FIG. 48.--Celt, showing blade thick near edge.]
Forms 5 and 6 were used as adzes; forms 7 and 8 are the same methods as
employed in hafting grooved axes.
A mounting similar to form 4 is seen in some Alaska specimens of
celt-scrapers in which the implement is fastened to a piece of wood so
as to project a short distance, and used like a plane. In all these,
the celt is very firmly fastened to the handle with sinew or rawhide,
which, when put on green, contracts with great force and binds like
wire.
As to the forms of celts, no division is practicable based on anything
but their entire appearance. The following descriptions and tabulations
represent the material of this kind in the Bureau collection:
_A._ Round or nearly round section, pointed or flattened at the top,
blade rapidly thickening from the edge; a few are polished at the top,
but most of them show marks of a maul or hammer; all have been highly
polished; all of this class were probably used as wedges, as their
shape renders them more fit for this purpose than for any other; the
battered tops indicate such usage. The few not showing such marks
may have been set into a bumper of wood or horn, or used with wooden
mauls. They vary in length from 2½ to 7½ inches. They are represented
by the specimen shown in figure 47, of argillite, from Lincoln county,
Arkansas; there are also one from a mound in Sumter county, Alabama
(figure 48), and one from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, both of
serpentine and elliptical in section, though the form of the edge puts
them in this class. The following specimens are typical representations
of the class: