Chapter II: Part 2

In addition, there are the following examples: From Caldwell county, North Carolina, one of porphyry and one of granite, the latter roughened on sides for handle; from McMinn county, Tennessee, one of gray flint, highly polished over its surface, except the top, which is much battered; from Cocke county, Tennessee, one of argillite.

_F._ Elliptical section, flattened or rounded top, edge curved or nearly straight, sides straight or gently curved, tapering from edge to top or in a few cases nearly parallel. These present many variations in finish and in evidence of use. Some are well polished over the entire surface; some have only the lower part polished; while some are entirely without polish except at the extreme edge. In some the top is battered; some have the surface roughened for handle at the top, others around the middle, still others all over the upper half or even more than half. One from McMinn county, Tennessee, has a roughly pecked shallow groove at the middle. Several have the edge very blunt, the faces at the edge form almost a right angle; these are thickest very near the edge and become gradually thinner toward the top. Most of this kind are from Caldwell county, North Carolina; the same form coming also from Monroe county, Tennessee, and from Savannah, Georgia. The length is from 3 to 7½ inches. Figure 53, of compact quartzite, from Monroe county, Tennessee; figure 54, of granite; and figure 55, of sienite, from Caldwell county, North Carolina.

------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L |
------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
Eastern Tennessee | | 4 | 4 |20 | 7 | | 4 | 1 | 1 | | | |
Western North Carolina | 1 | | 4 |22 | 4 | 3 | 5 | | | | | |
Montgomery county, N. C.| | | | | | | | 1 | | | | |
Coosa district, Alabama | | | | | | | | 2 | | | | |
Southwestern Illinois | | | 1 | | | | 7 | | | | | |
Kanawha valley, W. Va. | | | | 3 | 7 | | 5 | |10 | | 1 | 1 |
Keokuk, Iowa | | | | | | | 1 | | | | | |
Southwestern Wisconsin | | | | | | 1 | 1 | | | | | |
Miami valley, Ohio | | | | | | 2 | 3 | | | | | |
Northeastern Arkansas | 1 | | | 1 | | | 2 | | | 2 | | |
Southeastern Arkansas | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | |
Northwestern Georgia | | | | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | |
Savannah, Georgia | | 2 | | | 2 | | 1 | | | | 7 | |
Yazoo county, | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mississippi | | | | | 5 | | 2 | | | | | |
------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Hornblende.
B = Serpentine.
C = Compact quartzite.
D = Argillite.
E = Sienite.
F = Porphyry.
G = Granite.
H = Micaceous sandstone.
I = Diorite.
J = Greenstone.
K = Sandstone.
L = Flint.

_G._ Of the same general pattern as the last, except that the sides widen just before reaching the edge, giving a “bell shape” (figure 56). The length is from 6¼ to 8 inches. In this group there are two specimens of granite, two of porphyry, and one of sienite, all from Yazoo county, Mississippi. Two have their tops roughened.

_H._ Rectangular section, occasionally with the corners sufficiently rounded to give a somewhat elliptical section; top flattened or rounded; sides straight and parallel or nearly so, sometimes very slightly curved. Most have polished surfaces; only three or four show any battering, or roughening for handle. A large one of hornblende from Lauderdale county, Tennessee, has the edge dulled and polished by use. Length is from 2 to 9 inches. Figure 57, of argillite, from a mound in Monroe county, Tennessee. The distribution of this class of celts is wide, as shown by the following table:

+----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
+----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 10| 10| 2| 1| | | | | 1| |
|Western Tennessee | | | | | | | 1| | | |
|Northeastern Kentucky | | | 1| 1| 1| | 1| 1| | |
|Green River, Kentucky | | | | | 1| | | | | |
|Southwestern Illinois | | | | 2| 1| | | | | |
|Miami valley, Ohio | | | | 2| 2| 1| 1| | | |
|Kanawha valley, W. V. | 1| | | 8| 4| 4| 1| | | |
|Northwestern Georgia | | | | | | | | | | 1|
|Savannah, Georgia | | | | | | | | | 1| |
|Central Arkansas | | | | | | | | | 1| |
|Northwestern North Carolina | | | | | | | | | | 1|
+----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Argillite.
C = Porphyry.
D = Granite.
E = Sienite.
F = Diorite.
G = Hornblende.
H = Limestone.
I = Jasper.
J = Serpentine.

_I._ Thickest at top (wedge form), section elliptical or nearly rectangular; sides straight or curved, widest at edge or nearly parallel. A few are roughened for handling, and one or two are battered at top by hammering; most are small. The type is shown in figure 58, of granite, from Carroll county, Indiana. This class of celts also is widely distributed and diverse in material.

+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | | 3| 4| | 1| | | | | |
|Northeastern Arkansas | 1| | | | | 1| | | | |
|Southeastern Arkansas | | 1| | 1| | | | | | |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | | 1| | | | | | |
|Green river, Kentucky | | | 1| | | | | | | |
|Northeastern Kentucky | | 3| | | | | | 1| 1| |
|Crawford county, Wis. | | | | | | | | | 1| |
|Southwestern Illinois | | 3| 1| | | | | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | | | | | | 2| | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| 7| 5| | | 1| | 5| 2| |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Hornblende.
B = Granite.
C = Sienite.
D = Comp. quartzite.
E = Argillite.
F = Greenstone.
G = Sandstone.
H = Diorite.
I = Porphyry.
J = Basalt.

_J._ Flat on one side, convex on the other, giving a semi-elliptical section; sides nearly parallel; top flat or rounded. These were evidently intended for scrapers; none are at all chipped or battered from use, and with very few exceptions the whole surface is highly polished. The flint and jasper specimens, which have been first chipped into shape, have the facets and edge as smooth as though finished on an emery wheel. Similar forms, except with flat instead of convex upper surfaces, are known to have been used as adzes, but these have no marks of such use. The length ranges from 2 to 8 inches, but most are small. The type is shown in figure 59, of brown flint, from a grave in Alexander county, Illinois.

+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | | 4 | 1 | 1 | | | | |
|Central Arkansas | | | | 1 | | | | |
|Northeastern Arkansas | | | | | 4 | 1 | | |
|Southeastern Arkansas | | | | | | | 1 | |
|Southwestern Illinois | 1 | | | | | | | |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | | 1 | | | | |
|Northeastern Kentucky | 2 | | | | | | | |
|Tuscaloosa district, Alabama | | | | 1 | | | | |
|Northwestern North Carolina | 1 | 2| | | | | | 1 |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Graphite.
B = Argillite.
C = Porphyry.
D = Compt. quartzite.
E = Yellow jasper.
F = Gray jasper.
G = Novaculite.
H = Sienite.

_K._ Similar to last, except that the sides come to a point at the top; length, 3½ to 9 inches. Very few of either pattern are above 5 inches long, the larger ones being mostly of flint (figure 60, of sienite, from Warren county, Ohio).

+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Northeastern Arkansas | 2 | | | | | |
|Western Tennessee | | 1 | | | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 1 | | | 2 | 5 | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia| | | 1 | | | |
|Southwestern Illinois | | | | 2 | | 1 |
|Warren county, Ohio | | 2 | | | | |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Yellow jasper.
B = Sienite.
C = Diorite.
D = Gray jasper.
E = Argillite.
F = Compt. quartzite.

_L._ Sides concave, top narrow. Nearly every specimen has the upper portion pecked rough; one from Bradley county, Tennessee, and another from Mississippi county, Arkansas, are entirely polished. The latter has the scraper-form edge to be described later and is of exceptionally large size; it measures 5½ inches, being the only one exceeding 5 inches in length.

_M._ Top flat, round, or pointed; the blade usually begins a little below the middle, and is perfectly smooth in every case; in some the blade is not over an inch in length, probably reduced by continual sharpening. They may have been scrapers, though they do not have that form; if used as weapons they were probably set into the end of a piece of antler, which, in turn, was set in a club. The type is shown in figure 61, of argillite, from Monroe county, Tennessee.

+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 7| 1| 2| | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | 1| 1| | |
|Northeastern Arkansas | | 1| | 1| |
|Southeastern Arkansas | | | | | 1|
|Southwestern Illinois | 1| | 2| | |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Argillite.
B = Sienite.
C = Granite.
D = Quartzite.
E = Hornblende.KEY

_N._ Ground down thin, with a flat-elliptical or nearly rectangular section; sides straight or slightly curved, nearly parallel or tapering considerably to the top, which is either rounded or flattened. All are polished over the entire surface; none show any marks of use as wedges or hatchets, and most of them are too delicate for such use. The longer ones can be readily grasped in the hand, and are as well adapted to stripping off the hide of an animal, dividing the skeleton at the joints, or stripping the flesh from the bones, as anything made of stone can be; while the smaller ones, set in a handle to afford a grip, would answer the same purpose. There are three which are sharp at both ends, one having one symmetrical and one scraper-form edge; one having a scraper-form edge at each end on opposite sides; and one of rather soft argillite, unfinished, which has marks of pecking, chipping, and grinding, showing that any of these methods were practiced, as was most convenient. All these are from eastern Tennessee. The features are illustrated in figures 62, of argillite, from a mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina; 63, of black flinty slate, very hard, from a mound, Poinsett county, Arkansas; and 64, of argillite, from a mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.

+---------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
+---------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Northwestern | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
|Montgomery county, | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 1 |53 | | | 5 | | 1 | | 4 | | 7 | 2 | |
|Western Tennessee | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | |
|Northwestern Georgia | | | | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | 2 | 1 | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | |
|Union county, | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mississippi | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | | |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | |
|Northeastern Arkansas| | | 1 | | | | | | 1 | | | 1 | 1 |
|Southeastern Arkansas| | | | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
|Kanawha valley, | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| West Virginia | | | 2 | | | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | | |
|Northeastern Kentucky| | | 1 | | | | 1 | 1 | | | | | |
|Green river, Kentucky| | | 1 | | | | | | | | | | |
|Coosa district, | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Alabama | | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
+---------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Marble.
B = Argillite.
C = Sienite.
D = Quartzite.
E = Serpentine.
F = Diorite.
G = Porphyry.
H = Granite.
I = Sandstone.
J = Hornblende.
K = Compact quartzite.
L = Slate.
M = Chert.

GOUGES.

While there are perhaps no true gouges in the collection, there are some examples of a form between a celt and a gouge, illustrated in figure 65, of serpentine, from Caldwell county, North Carolina.

Implements of this form are known to have been used to tap sugar maples, and also to hollow out wooden troughs, and are very common in the north, though less abundant in the south.[20] It is in those localities in which bark instead of logs was used for canoes that they are most numerous. Sometimes they were hollowed the whole length and used as spiles.[21] They were also employed instead of celts in hollowing wooden mortars and the like when a more regular concavity was desired.[22]

CHISELS AND SCRAPERS.

The aboriginal implements known as “chisels” are round, elliptical, or rectangular in section. The flint and jasper specimens are generally widest at the edge, the reverse being usually the case with those of other material. Most of them have marks of hammers at the blunt end, though some are polished at the top and a few, from eastern Tennessee, are sharp at both ends. The top (except in the double-edged ones) is usually flat, though a few are pointed or very thin, almost with cutting edges. Jaspers and flints are chipped, with the facets polished, the edges highly so. Any form may occur in any locality. Almost invariably they have scraper-form edges. The length is from 2 to 6 inches.

Typical examples are shown in figure 66, of yellow jasper, from a grave in Mississippi county, Arkansas; figure 67, of novaculite, from an unknown locality in Arkansas; figure 68, of serpentine, from Bradley county, Tennessee; figure 69, of sienite, from Caldwell county, North Carolina; and figure 70, of gray jasper, from Bradley county, Tennessee. Some specimens are sharp and worn at both ends, and could have been used only with handles.

The Bureau collection includes the following specimens:

-----------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| District. | A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q|
-----------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
Northwestern | | | 1| 2| 1| | | | | | | | | | | | |
North Carolina | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Northeastern | | | | | |32| 5| 2| 4| 1| 1| 1| | | | | |
Arkansas | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Southeastern | | | 1| | | 2| | | | | | | 3| | | | |
Arkansas | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Coosa district, | | 1| | | | | | | | | 1| | | | | | |
Alabama | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Warren county, | | | | | 1| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Ohio | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Southwestern | 2| | 1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Illinois | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Eastern Tennessee| | | |40| | | 1| | | | | | | 2| 1| 3| 1|
Union county, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1| |
Mississippi | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Kanawha valley, | | | | | | | | | | | | 5| | | | | |
West Virginia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Northwestern | | | | 1| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Georgia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Savannah, Georgia| | | | 1| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
-----------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+

KEY:
A = White flint.
B = Serpentine.
C = Sienite.
D = Argillite.
E = Granite.
F = Yellow jasper.
G = Gray jasper.
H = Mottled jasper.
I = Red jasper.
J = Silicified wood.
K = Quartzite.
L = Black flint.
M = Novaculite.
N = Compact quartzite.
O = Porphyry.
P = Sandstone.
Q = Hornblende.

The high polish sometimes found on the top of a round-pointed celt may be due to its working slightly in the socket in its handle of wood, deerhorn, or other material.

By celts having a scraper-form edge is meant those having the edge to one side of the median line, due to constant use of one face. This face, at the edge, is in a straight line from side to side; it may have a chisel-like flattening, or may curve toward the middle of the celt for a short distance and then have the same form to the top as the other face, which is convex or curved, as in the ordinary hatchet-celt. They form a medium between celts whose faces gradually curve from top to edge, and the celt-scrapers which are flat on one side. Among the thicker celts this form is quite rare, though several, especially one from Kanawha valley, West Virginia (represented in figure 74), are quite pronounced. In the thinner specimens, however, a majority are of this pattern, while in some types, nearly all indeed, even those up to 6 inches long, are so beveled. The type, of which an illustration is shown in figure 71, is of very hard black slate; the same form is presented in figures 66 and 70.

From Bartow county, Georgia, is a scraper made from the edge of a celt which has been broken diagonally across from one face to the other. A stem like that of a spear-head has been formed by chipping away the sides of the part broken, which gives a convenient attachment for a handle; the original edge is unchanged except in the wear which has resulted from its new use.

The specimen shown in figure 72 (of argillite, from McMinn county, Tennessee) is introduced on account of its undoubted use as a scraper, and because it is much smaller than some of the chipped flints thus classified, the edge being less than an inch wide; the sides are roughly incurved.

In Bradley county, Tennessee, there were found over 200 specimens of very small, thin, flat, waterworn sandstone pebbles, which were mostly in their natural condition, except that they had one side rubbed to a sharp edge. A few, more slender, were ground to a point. Some of them have a handle chipped out on the side opposite the edge, sometimes with nicks in it, made for attachment to a handle by means of a cord. Most of these specimens are less than 2 inches in length. No suggestion is offered as to their use.

A granite implement from Union county, Illinois, with nearly rectangular section, slightly curved sides, rounded corners, and high polish over the entire surface, having nearly the same thickness (about an inch) at every part, would seem to be a polishing or rubbing stone. There are, however, one from Warren county, Ohio, and three from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, of almost exactly the same size and pattern, which have had one end ground off to a sharp edge; so the specimen may be only an unfinished celt. One of those from Kanawha valley has had the edge partly broken away, and one face has been pecked considerably in an attempt to restore it for use; but the intention was not carried out. Some celts, not of the scraper pattern, which have the edge to one side of the median line, are perhaps broken or blunted specimens redressed on one side only.

Figure 73 exhibits a specimen of argillite from Carter county, Tennessee, probably an adze or scraper, with a projection to keep the implement from being forced into the handle. The edge is symmetrical, though much striated. The specimen shown in figure 74 (of granite, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia) represents a peculiar form. There are several like it in the collection, all but this one from islands in the Pacific.

CHIPPED CELTS.

On account of their shape and undoubted use, a class of celts, although neither pecked nor ground, is introduced. Many of them resemble, in most respects, the so-called paleolithic implements, though sometimes of better finish. They are made with a rounded top and nearly parallel sides; rudely triangular; or with the sides curved to a point at the top. The edge may be straight or curved, and is usually chipped, though sometimes ground; a few are chisel-shaped. Usually they show no signs of wear; when they do, it is always in the form of a polish at the larger end, or on the exposed facets. One of black flint, 8 inches long, from Kanawha valley, has a scraper-form edge, smoothly polished. Many, even of those scarcely changed from their original form and natural surface, have the edges dulled and polished from use as scrapers or adzes.

The collection includes the following examples: 36 of argillite, flint, porphyry, and compact quartzite, from Montgomery county, North Carolina, some with the wider edge sharp (figure 75, of flint); 12 of limestone and flint from Mason county, Kentucky; 70 of argillite, a few with the edges ground, from southeastern Tennessee (figure 76, from McMinn county); over 300 from Kanawha valley, nearly all of black flint, a few being of diorite or quartzite--some are partly polished, or have ground edges (figure 77, of black flint, from a mound).

HEMATITE CELTS.

With the exception of two from Iowa and a few from Preston county, West Virginia, the hematite celts in the collection are from Kanawha valley, and are small, ranging in length from 1 to 2¾ inches, except one 4½ and one 5½ inches. They are illustrated in figures 78, 79, 80, and 81, the last from a mound. Nearly all have been ground directly from the nodule or concretion in which this ore of iron so frequently appears. Occasionally one of homogeneous structure has been chipped into form before grinding, the facets in some cases being rubbed nearly away. Sometimes they have a rectangular outline, but usually the sides taper from the edge to the top by a gradual curve, or are parallel a part of the way and then taper either by a straight or, oftener, by a curved line. The section is rectangular or elliptical.

These implements were probably used as knives or scrapers, being set into the end of a piece of antler, which may in turn have been set into a larger handle of wood. That some were knives is shown by the edge which is dulled to a flat polished surface extending from side to side; and that many were scrapers is shown by their celt-scraper shape, a half elliptical section, or by the scraper-form edge, seen in the largest specimen. Some, however, have the edge symmetrical, as in the hatchet-celts. One has incurved sides, and is roughened on the sides and on the faces near the top.

PESTLES.

The fact of the ordinary conical or bell-shaped, long-cylindrical, or somewhat pear-shaped stones having been used for pestles is so well settled that no confirmatory references are needed. A few citations may be given in regard to certain forms sometimes differently classed, especially some of the discoidal stones to be hereafter described.

According to Stevens, the corn crushers used by the Swiss lake dwellers are spherical; some are flattened on two sides, like an orange, others almost round with depressions on four sides. They are about the size of a man’s fist or rather smaller. The Africans have a piece of quartz or other hard stone as large as half a brick, one side of which is convex, to fit the hollow of a larger stone used as a mortar.[23] Evans observes that disks sometimes show marks of use as hammers or pestles;[24] one found at Ty Mawr was thick, with a cavity on each face.[25] In preparing pemmican, the American Indians are known to have pounded the dried meat to a powder between two stones.[26] This gives the impression that any suitable stones may have been used; and the ancient California Indians worked out a round stone as an acorn sheller, modern tribes using any smooth stone.[27]

The pestles which have the bottom round or convex are generally found in the same localities as the hollowed stone mortars. Several forms of pestles are represented in the collection. They may be grouped as in the following description and tabulation.

_A._ With expanding base; bottom flat or slightly convex, often with a slight depression in the middle. Handle tapering, or of uniform diameter to the top; in a few, slightly swelling above as if to give a firmer hold. Top rounded, flat, or pointed. Bottom may be very little expanded or may have twice the diameter of the handle. Probably used for pounding grain or seeds on a flat stone, as it could not be used in a mortar even slightly hollowed. None seem to have been used as mullers or rubbers. They may have served for hammers, and would be excellent for cracking nuts, as the pit in the bottom would tend to keep them from flying out to the side. The type is shown in figure 82, of quartzite, from Sullivan county, Tennessee. The distribution is moderately wide, and the material chiefly granite and quartzite, with a few of other rock varieties, as shown in the table:

+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Northeastern Kentucky | 2| 2| | | 1| |
|Eastern Tennessee | 3| 6| | | | 1|
|Ross county, Ohio | 2| 1| | | | |
|Miami valley, Ohio | 1| 7| 1| 2| | |
|Southwestern Illinois | | 1| | | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| 1| | 1| 1| |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Granite
C = Sienite
D = Diorite.
E = Sandstone.
F = Argillite.

_B._ Almost cylindrical, from 6 to 18 inches long and about two inches
in diameter. Some of the larger ones were probably rolling-pins, as
the ends, either from some fancy finish, or because worked to a point,
are of a shape that would make their use as pestles impracticable.
Even as rollers, some must have been used for crushing grain that had
previously been softened or was not fully matured, as they are of a
soft stone that would wear very easily. The shorter ones are blunt at
the ends, and may have been used in a shallow wooden mortar; none are
adapted for use in stone. The class is illustrated by figure 83, of
soft clay slate, from Cherokee county, Georgia.
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E |
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
|Montgomery county, North Carolina | 1| | | | |
|Northwestern North Carolina | 1| | | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 3| 2| 3| 1| |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | | 1| |
|Northwestern Georgia | | | 1| 1| |
|Hopkins county, Kentucky | | | | | 1|
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Argillite.
B = Soft slate.
C = Clay slate.
D = Mica-schist.
E = Quartzite.

_C._ Conical, or truncated cone, bottom flat, convex or curved from one side to the opposite. Some are quite smooth on the bottom as if from rubbing either back and forth or with a rotary motion; while many have the bottom pecked rough, showing use as hammers or pounders. For those with curved bottoms a rocking motion seems best adapted; with the palm resting on the longer side, good work could be done in any of these ways. Typical specimens are shown in figures 84, of quartzite, from Monroe county, Tennessee; 85, of granite, from Warren county, Ohio; and 86, of quartzite, from Saline county, Arkansas. A somewhat aberrant specimen, shown in figure 87, of granite, from Carter county, Tennessee, has an elliptical base, rounded top, and flat bottom; the longer sides grooved for handle. A similar one, of quartzite, came from Warren county, Ohio. There is considerable variety of material, quartzite largely predominating. Although the geographic range is wide, the distribution is rather sparse, and several districts are not represented.

+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Southeastern Arkansas | 2| | | | | | |
|Central Arkansas | 1| | | | | | 1|
|Eastern Tennessee | 12| 1| | | 1| | |
|Miami valley, Ohio | 3| | 1| | 3| 2| |
|Montgomery county, North Carolina| | | 1| 1| | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 2| | | | | | 1|
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Marble.
C = Sienite.
D = Hornblende.
E = Granite.
F = Diorite.
G = Sandstone.

_D._ Conical, or truncated cone, with top more or less rounded, very little worked, a stone of approximate form having been chosen and the angles and corners pecked off; bottom flat, and in some quite smooth; used as pestles or mullers. The group is represented by 17 specimens of quartzite, all from southeastern Tennessee.

_E._ Not dressed at all on the sides, but with both ends worn to a convex shape. Represented by two specimens of quartzite from southeastern Tennessee.

_F._ Cylindrical, flat bottom, dome-shaped top, these portions having been carefully pecked into shape. Some are smoothly polished on the bottom, but none elsewhere. Those from Miami valley, and one from Kanawha valley are much longer than the others. The type illustrated in figure 88 is of quartzite, from McMinn county, Tennessee.

+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 5| 1| 1| |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia| 1| | 3| |
|Miami valley, Ohio | | | 1| 1|
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+

KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Porphyry.
C = Sandstone.
D = Limestone.

PITTED STONES.

There is scarcely a locality in the country where pitted stones are not found; they are indeed of such frequent occurrence that they are seldom considered worth the trouble of gathering.

There can be no “type” among such crude implements; they are almost invariably waterworn sandstone pebbles, with a pit varying from a slight roughening of the surface to a hollow half an inch in depth pecked in each face. They probably belong with hammerstones, as they seldom show other marks of work, the edge in some being only slightly marked in one or two places, while in others it is much worn.

Various numbers of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Great Britain and Ireland refer to pitted stones as found in every part of the world. According to Evans, slight pits aid in holding stone hammers; they also prevent the jar to a large extent. If used to pound meat or break bones, it would be hard to hold them when greasy without pits.[28] Such implements may have had handles of wood with projections to fit the pits,[29] though this is not probable; but if so a piece of buckskin on the handle opposite the pits would do better and be more convenient to apply.

CUPPED STONES.

Conjecture and theory have had full sway in regard to the uses of cupped stones; but the question is apparently far from solution. There is a prevalent idea that they were used for cracking nuts; but why should an Indian make a large number of holes in a great many stones for such purpose? It is true there would be an advantage in having the nut stand on one end; but very few stones have depressions that will allow this.

Of the southern Indians Adair observes:

They gather a number of hiccory-nuts, which they pound with a
round stone, upon a stone, thick and hollowed for the purpose.
When they are beat fine enough, they mix them with cold water,
in a clay basin, where the shells subside. The other part is
an oily, tough, thick, white substance ... with which they eat
their bread.[30]

Lawson’s language regarding the Indians of North Carolina is even more definite. He says:

[They gather] likewise hickerie nuts, which they beat betwixt
two great stones, then sift them, so thicken their venison
broth therewith, the small shells precipitating to the bottom
of the pot, whilst the kernel, in the form of flour, mixes it
with the liquor, both these nuts [hickory and chinquapin] made
into meal makes a curious soup, either with clear water, or in
any meat broth.[31]

Neither of these statements seems to have any reference to cupped stones. The first is a good description of a mortar with a round pestle, while the second says nothing about any particular form of stone; yet they have been referred to time and again as proof of the nut-stone theory. There would be some difficulty in pounding nuts fine in small holes half an inch or more below where the pounding stone could reach.

C. C. Jones[32] was satisfied that cupped stones were used for cracking nuts because great numbers of nut-bearing trees grow where they are found; while Whittlesey, noting the fact that hundreds of them are found throughout northern Ohio, considered them as sockets in which the end of a spindle rested. Dawson[33] speaks of “stones having deep hollows in the sides which were mortars for grinding pigments, or sockets for fire drills.”

The cupped stones in the Bureau collection are almost invariably of reddish sandstone, of varying texture, from a few ounces to 30 pounds in weight. The holes are from one to twenty-five in number, of various sizes even in the same stone, and follow the natural contour of the surface even when that is quite irregular; the stone is never dressed or flattened to bring the cups on a level; none show any marks of work, but are the rough blocks or slabs in their natural state.

Many of the holes are roughly pecked in, but the larger ones are usually quite smooth, as if ground out, and almost complete hemispheres. They range from a pit only started or going scarcely beyond the surface to one 2 inches in diameter. The smaller ones with one cup pass into the pitted stones. Occasionally at the bottom of a large cup there is a small secondary hole as though made by a flint drill.

The polished cups may have been used for fire-drill or spindle sockets, though why there should be a number of holes when but one could be used at a time awaits explanation. The rough ones may have been for holding nuts, and so long as they were on the same plane any number could be utilized; but when they are on different parts of the stone, even on opposite sides, as many of them are, the question remains open. Slabs or thin pieces nearly always have cups on both sides, while blocks or thick slabs have them on one side only. On the former a number of nuts could be cracked with one blow of a flat stone and thrown into a receptacle of some kind, either side of the stone being used at pleasure; but there would be no economy of time or work in this method, and it would be very strange that any one should not learn with so much experience that a nut should never be laid on the flat side in cracking. No theory yet advanced accounts for the greater number of such relics, namely, the irregular fragments of stone with cups at varying intervals and different levels.

No division can be made in regard either to size or material of the stone, or to form or finish of the cups. Many of the smaller ones were no doubt paint mortars. One well finished specimen of this class is shown in figure 89; it is of quartzite from 4 feet beneath the surface in Crittenden county, Arkansas.

Cupped stones are found wherever representatives of the Bureau have worked, and numerous references might be given concerning their existence in other localities.

MULLERS.

The objects known as mullers are generally flat and smooth on one side and convex on the other, sometimes with a pit in one side or both, mostly of granite, quartzite, or sandstone; rarely of other materials.

A fine specimen of white quartz from Elmore county, Alabama, has the bottom flat and highly polished, the edge perpendicular to bottom and rounding off into the slightly convex top, with a pit at center. Figure 90 represents a muller of marble or crystalline limestone from a grave in Randolph county, Illinois. It has a smooth, flat bottom, with convex top somewhat smaller than the base; around the circumference there is a depression polished by wear. A similar specimen, of diorite, from Carter county, Tennessee, seems to be the lower part of a pestle with expanding base, whose top or handle has been lost, the part remaining having a place for a handle pecked around it.

The discoidal stones with this shape were probably used as mullers; they were also used as pestles in the hollow mortars, as the edge is often chipped or pecked, which would account for the pits on the faces. Figure 91 represents a muller of granite from Savannah, Georgia. Sometimes the base has an elliptical instead of a circular outline, as seen in other specimens from Savannah.

Mullers are found wherever there are indications of occupancy for any considerable length of time.

GRINDING AND POLISHING STONES.

Stones evidently used for grinding and polishing need only to be mentioned, as they are of widespread occurrence. Implements used for the former purpose are made of any siliceous stone of convenient size and suitable texture, from a coarse quartzite to a very fine close-grained sandstone, according to the class of work to be done. The markings on them range from the narrow, sharp, incised lines due to shaping a small ornament, to the broad grooves resulting from grinding an ax or celt into form. Nearly all of those in museums are small specimens used for rubbing; but there are many large blocks in various localities, sometimes several feet square, marked and scored in every direction by grinding or sharpening the large implements on them.

Among the polishers may be included a number of small pebbles of very hard siliceous stone, generally some form of quartz, which by the high polish show long use. The larger ones may have been used for rubbing skins in tanning, as they can easily be grasped in the hand. Very few have changed from their primitive form to a greater degree than would naturally result from the wear upon them. A few very small ones, long-ovoid in shape, usually not over 2½ or 3 inches in length, were probably paint mullers, as they are well fitted for use in small paint cups. Many of the discoidal stones--which will be spoken of under the proper head--may have had these functions. The highly polished specimens are all from the southern states. There is one rubbing stone of pumice from Craighead county, Arkansas.

HAMMERSTONES.

Hammers or hammerstones show every stage of work, from the ordinary pebble or fragment, with its surface scarcely altered, to the highly polished round or ovoid “ball.” They are usually of the hardest available material, and seem to be of more frequent occurrence in the northern districts than in the southern states, though found everywhere. Used in their earlier stages merely as tools with which to fashion other implements, they were assigned to specified purposes when brought to a better finish or form. A typical example, shown in figure 92, is of granite, from Ross county, Ohio.

The Sioux used an oval stone, with a piece of rawhide covering all but the point and attaching it to a withe handle,[34] while the Shoshoni and Ojibwa made use of a round stone, wrapped in leather, attached by a string of 2 inches to a handle 22 inches long covered with leather; this was called a poggamoggan.[35] Rounded stones are said to have been used by the California Indians as bolas,[36] though it is more probable that they were slung-shots. The ancient Californians worked out a round stone for an acorn-sheller; the present Indians use any smooth stone.[37] Elaborately carved round stones, mounted in handles as clubs, are known to have been used by the Queen Charlotte Island Indians for killing fish,[38] and other northwestern Indians have been observed to use a round stone inclosed in a net and attached to a line as a sinker.[39]

It is not necessary to quote references to the well-known fact that the Eskimo and the Patagonians made use of round stones of various sizes as bolas. There is no evidence that our Indians ever used anything of the sort.

GROOVED STONES OTHER THAN AXES.

Three subclasses of grooved stones, differing in essential features from axes, may be discriminated. They are as follows:

_A._ Slightly or not at all worked, except the groove; often showing marks of violent usage. With these may be classed the large stone hammers of the Lake Superior region.

_B._ Round or ellipsoid stones; in the latter the groove may follow either axis. The type (figure 93) is of sandstone from Carter county, Tennessee.

_C._ Resembling axes in all but the edge. Of class _A_ there are none in the collection; their form and size are such that they could have been for no other purpose than hammerstones. Of class _B_ there are some from Savannah, which may be sinkers or club heads. According to Morgan, oval stones with grooves were secured in the heads of war clubs,[40] and Carver observed that the southwestern Indians used as a slung-shot a curiously worked stone, with a string a yard and a half long tied to it, the other end being tied to the arm above the elbow.[41]

The specimens of class _C_ may be broken axes. Figure 94 (granite, from Butler county, Ohio) shows a form quite common throughout central and western Ohio. They are generally small, have evidently never been sharp, and were in all probability intended for hammers from the beginning.

MORTARS.

The Indian mortars in the collection are nearly always of sandstone of varying degrees of fineness. As is the case with cupped stones, when made of slabs, both sides have been worked; when of rough blocks, only one.

The Senecas and Cayugas are said by Morgan to have used wooden mortars in which to pound corn after it was hulled,[42] and it is possible that the long pestles of soft stone were used with wooden mortars, though some are not well adapted to this use. The Iroquois women pounded in stone mortars the stony material used in tempering the clay for their pottery.[43] The California Indians made mortars by knocking a segment off a bowlder, making a flat surface, and working out with a hammer and chisel,[44] while the tribes of the interior worked directly from the surface of a suitable rock. The Yokuts, according to Powers, use tolerably well made stone mortars, and sometimes place a basket-like arrangement around the top to prevent the acorns from flying out.[45]

No two specimens of the mortars and metate-like stones in the Bureau collection are alike; the nearest approach that can be made to a classification is as follows:

_A._ Smooth and flat on one or both sides; for use with mullers; from McMinn county, Tennessee, and Allamakee county, Iowa.

_B._ With round cavities on one or both sides; for round or cylindrical pestles; from McMinn county, Tennessee. A cobblestone from Bradley county, Tennessee, has a shallow cavity in either side and a pit in the center of each. From Kanawha valley there is a slab weighing about 25 pounds, flat and smooth on one side, as though primarily used with a muller and the regular even cavity afterward made; on the other side a cavity and a cupped hole have been worked in from the natural surface. A slab from Warren county, Ohio, has a shallow cavity worked into one side and a cupped hole in the other. From Union county, Mississippi, there is a flattened bowlder with a shallow cavity on each side; a shallow cup has been pecked on the edge of one of them. From Caldwell county, North Carolina, comes a bowlder of water-worn mica-schist, with a shallow cavity and a deeper one on one side, and on the other a cupped hole opposite each of these cavities.

_C._ With one side hollowed out, the other flat and smooth. Specimens of this type come from Caldwell county, North Carolina; McMinn county, Tennessee, and Bradley county, Tennessee, the last with a pit in the center and another on the edge of the flat side.

_D._ With a long, narrow depression on each side. A very large specimen of fine-grained sandstone from Lincoln county, Arkansas, represents this type.

There are, in addition, two pieces of fine-grained sandstone with uniform thickness of less than an inch and about 10 inches across, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and Hale county, Alabama, respectively. Both sides are ground perfectly smooth, and flat. The objects were probably for some culinary purpose.

SINKERS.

The sinkers in the collection may be divided into four classes, viz: _A_, entirely unworked; _B_, notched on the sides; _C_, encircled by a groove; and _D_, perforated. Conversely, stones under all these different heads may have served other and widely different purposes.

Of the functions of class _A_, only those who have seen them in use can speak. Stevens mentions that some tribes inclose a round stone in a sort of net and attach it to a line in fishing;[46] and no other use can be imagined for some of the specimens in the Bureau collection.

Specimens of class _B_ are found along water courses in such situations as to leave no doubt of their use as sinkers;[47] they were attached to grapevines and dragged on the bottom of streams to frighten fish into nets or traps.[48] Those in the collection are made of ordinary flat water-worn pebbles, with notches rudely chipped in the sides; a number are from southeastern Tennessee.

Of class _C_, while many were perhaps sinkers, more were club heads and slungshots or hammers. A number have been obtained from Savannah, Georgia, more or less worked, some being rounded, with grooves of varying depths and sizes. Small stones of this form are used by Greenland fishermen as sinkers;[49] and according to Thatcher, a large stone is by the Indians made fast to a sinking line at each end of a net, and the net is spread in the water by sinkers at different parts of it.[50]

Class _D_ will be referred to under the head “Perforated stones,” from which they can be discriminated only arbitrarily.

A number of roughly chipped, somewhat crescent-shaped specimens of argillite, from half a pound to 2 pounds in weight, collected in Montgomery county, North Carolina, may have been used as sinkers.

PERFORATED STONES.

Only the larger or rougher perforated stones used as implements are included in this class.

Several perforated pieces of steatite, some mere rough fragments, others with the edges smooth and dressed to a somewhat symmetrical outline, have been collected about Savannah, Georgia. Some of these have been drilled, others gouged through apparently with a slender flint. In the latter group the little projections left by the tool have been worn smooth. The hole may be near one end or about the center. Similar pieces have been found in Forsyth county, Georgia; one of these is worked to an irregular pentagon and smoothly finished. From Haywood county, North Carolina, there are some very rough fragments, apparently just as they were picked up, except for the perforation; and a number of pieces of perforated pottery are from Montgomery county, North Carolina.

Perforated stones were used by the southern Indians to drag along the bottoms of streams and frighten fish into their nets and traps.[51] Four disks 4 to 5½ inches in diameter, with handles from 13 to 17 inches long, were found in a cave at Los Angeles, California,[52] and objects of this character were, according to Schumacher, used by the Santa Barbara Indians as weights for wooden spades.[53] According to Abbott many perforated stones are found close to rivers and on shores in such positions as to leave no doubt of their use as sinkers.[54] Similar stones were used as sinkers by the Scandinavians in comparatively recent times; by the Bechuanas for grinding grasshoppers, spiders, etc., and also as weights for digging-sticks; by some savages in the Pacific islands as clubs; by the Icelanders for breaking up salted fish.[55] They were used by the Iroquois as weights for fire drills;[56] by the Eskimo as clubs, having a rawhide handle secured by a knot.[57] According to Dale,[58] Layard,[59] Griesbach,[60] and Gooch,[61] they were used by natives of southern Africa as root-diggers (to remove earth from the roots), as weapons, and to give weight to digging-sticks. They were also used by the Peruvian Indians to be thrown with a stick. Disk-shaped and cylindrical throwing stones, perforated for the stick, are found among the Swiss lake dwellings.[62] According to Evans[63] they were used mostly as hammers or clubs. They are hard and battered on the edges; sinkers would be of softer stone.

The most complete article that has yet been given concerning the forms and uses of perforated stones is that by H. W. Henshaw.[64]

DISCOIDAL STONES.

There are numerous references to discoidal stones by various writers, but a majority of the objects do not fall under any explanation that has so far been given.

The Choctaw Indians used disks two fingers wide and two spans around in playing “chungke,”[65] and the Indians of North Carolina were much addicted to a sport called “chenco,” played with a staff and a bowl made with stone.[66] The same kind of game was, or still is, played with hoops or rings of wood or rawhide by the Iroquois,[67] the Pawnee,[68] the Apache,[69] the Navajo,[70] the Mohave,[71] and the Omaha;[72] also, with rings of stone, by the Arikara,[73] the Mandan,[74] and other tribes.