Chapter IX: Things to Think About

Think of as many tools and weapons as you can that the
Cave-men found ready to use.

What could they find to make into tools and weapons?
Why did they not use large boards and metals?

Why did they put handles on their tools and weapons?

Think of as many ways as you can of fastening handles
to tools and weapons.

_Making New Weapons_

The Cave-men liked their new home.

They were able to work better when they were warm than when they were shivering with the cold.

They found more time to improve their tools and weapons.

One day they began to make weapons of the bones they found in the cave.

Many of the bones were good for clubs.

Others were good for handles of weapons.

After the Cave-men had sorted out the bones that they wanted, they went to hunt stones along the margin of the stream.

They wanted stones that were good for hammers.

So they hunted for smooth, round stones that were hard to break.

They wanted other stones for knives, spears, and axes.

So they hunted for stones that broke with a sharp edge.

They struck the sharp edges with hammer stones to see if they crumbled under a heavy blow.

When they found stones that crumbled they threw them away, but they kept the stones that were tough and strong.

When they had chipped off a few large flakes they carried the rough stones to the cave.

There they made them into weapons.

They did not chip the hammer stones, but fastened handles to them.

Some handles were long bones that were large at the joint.

Other handles were made of forked branches.

Sharpeyes found a hammer stone with a groove around the center and fastened a handle to it.

He cut a slender branch of a sapling and bent it around the groove.

Then he twisted the ends and held them close, while he bound them with rawhide.

The Cave-men liked this hammer so well that they made other hammers like it.

They made long handles for their knife points, so that they became real spears.

They put handles on the spearheads in many ways.

Sometimes they bound the spearhead between the split end of a long stick, and covered the binding with pitch.

Sometimes they drove the spearhead into the soft part of a large horn.

Sometimes they drove it into the pith of a branch.

They always tried to bind the handle so that it would stay, for they sometimes got hurt when a handle came off.

THINGS TO DO

_Find stones that will make good hammers. Tell why they
are good for hammers._

_Find stones that are good for knives, axes, and
spears. Tell why they are good for such weapons._

_Find bones, horns, or sticks that are good for
handles. See if you can put handles on hammers or
spears._

_Notice how handles are put on tools nowadays._

_Show as many ways as you can of fastening handles to
tools and weapons._

_See if you can find a tool whose handle is fastened in
a way that the Cave-men did not use._

_Tell where you can find the best stones for tools and
weapons._

_Why do people not use stones for tools nowadays?_

_Find out what small stones are used for to-day._

_How do you use stones?_