Twenty-one specimens are considered to have been used as awls or
perforators. Though individual form varies greatly, most are made on
plano-convex or concavo-convex flakes. Flaking is concentrated on the
short point, though it sometimes extends further on one or both faces.
Occasionally, one or more of the edges have seen secondary use as a
scraper. Of the total, nine specimens are of flinty material, one of
obsidian. The remainder are quartzite (8) or quartz (3). They range in
length from ¾ to 2½ inches, and from ½ to 1½ inches in width.
“Gravers” (Fig. 38)
The term “graver” is not especially desirable since 1) it implies
function, and 2) it is generally applied to a special form associated
with the Upper Paleolithic of Europe. Nevertheless, the term is
also used in connection with sharp-pointed flakes employed in
making incisions, and as such is well entrenched in the literature.
These tools were divided into two categories. The first contains 16
specimens. These were all made from irregular flakes, the largest
1⅜ × 1⅛ the smallest ¾ × ½. There are one or more points on each.
Usually the point shows evidence of usage on one or two sides only.
Some show scars all around. The second class, comprising 14 specimens,
is distinguished by the fact that all are made from prismatic flakes
(see below). Usually there is only one point on each. Despite their
diminutive size (the largest 1½ × ⅝ inch, smallest, ¾ × ¼), tests made
by the authors involving cutting bone, showed even the smallest to be
an efficient tool.
Most of these artifacts are of the flinty variety of quartz, often
fossilized wood.