278 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



Oct. 27th. 



The President, Mr. Lea, in the Chair. 



Thirty-two members present. 



On report of the respective Committees, the following were or- 

 dered to be published : 



Description of a Collection of JASPER "LANCE-HEADS" fonnd near Trenton, 

 New Jersey ; and Remarks on the Locality, with reference to Indian Anti- 

 quities. 



BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT. 



During the summer of 1861, a farmer, while engaged in plowing an arti- 

 ficially drained piece of meadow, near Trenton, New Jersey, discovered a 

 large collection of jasper "lance-heads," buried at a distance of about fifteen 

 inches below the surface of the ground. The author visited the spot shortly 

 afterwards, and has lately secured the collection ; a portion of which is now 

 in the possession of the Academy. 



The collection numbers about one hundred and fifty specimens ; they having 

 been all carefully gathered when exhumed. They are of such shape as ren- 

 ders the term " lance-head " probably most appropriate, each having a well- 

 defined point, sharpened edges, and straight, blunt base. They measure 

 from five and a half to seven inches in length, from two and a half to three 

 inches in width, and from one-third to three-fourths of an inch in thickness. 



Some six or eight of the specimens have the maximum length and mini- 

 mum width, and two or three are obtusely pointed at either end ; otherwise, 

 any one specimen is a fair representative of the whole number. The material 

 from which these " lance-heads" were manufactured, is a dark yellow jasper, 

 more or less veined, and occasionally enclosing a ribbon of shot-like, 

 glassy particles. A mass of this mineral was found not far distant from 

 the spot where the "lance-heads" were discovered, and from it, evidently, 

 they had been made, as the characteristics of the specimens were well marked 

 in the unused mass. 



The collection, when discovered, was arranged in a series of circles, the 

 specimens being placed upright on their bases ; and each circle was closely 

 fitted within the other. Two-thirds of the collection was so arranged, while 

 the remaining third, lying on their sides, walled them around so closely, 

 that had they been upon the surface, they would have maintained their po- 

 sition. No jasper is found in the locality, otherwise than as small, irregu- 

 larly shaped fragments, and as small-arrow heads of various outlines. 



The neighborhood of Trenton, or that portion of it extending from the 

 southernmost limit of the city to Bordentown, bounded on the west by the 

 river Delaware, and east by the Trenton and Crosswicks Turnpike, is here 

 treated of. This includes a meadow,bluff and upland, six miles in length,by from 

 two to four in width ; and in any section whatsoever of the locality is to be found, 

 more or less abundantly, Indian antiquities. These, for the most part, con- 

 sist of arrow-heads of yellow, green, black and olive colored jasper, also of 

 white quartz. These arrow-heads are of various shapes, and average an 

 inch and a half in length. Stone axes of two patterns are abundant; one 

 having a well defined edge and back, with a deeply worn notch on each side, 

 for fastening a handle thereto ; the other having an as equally well marked 

 edge, but with the back tapering to a point. These latter are generally 

 made of serpentine. Pipes of three varietes are occasionally found ; one be- 

 ing a cylindrical bowl of two inches in length, with a pedestal, giving it the 

 appearance of a wine-glass : another having a globular bowl, well hollowed 



[Oct. 



