36 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



upper left edge, and a still deeper round cavity on the opposite face 

 near the back. These various features combine to show that this 

 hammer was not hafted, but freely worked with in the hand, and the 

 edge shows conspicuous traces of ancient use. The edge is curved and 

 more rounded on one side than on the other. 



The small axe shown in Fig. 3 of the same Plate (7.2 cm long, 3.9 

 cm wide over the back, 4.7 cm over the middle, and 4.4 cm over the 

 edge; greatest thickness 3.4 cm), of a finely polished light-green jade, is 

 of the same type, generally. It is entirely polished except the butt. 

 There is an oblong piece with rough surface cut out of one of the lateral 

 sides for a finger-support, and there is a shallow round depression on the 

 lower face for the same purpose. The cutting edge, very fine and sharp, 

 is almost straight, forming right angles with the lateral sides. 



Fig. 2 on Plate II is a flat chisel, thick in the centre and gradually 

 sloping towards the edges. It is perforated near the back. All sides 

 are convex in shape, and the cutting edge runs in a big graceful curve. 

 The blade is not set off as in other pieces. It measures in length 

 1 1.5 cm, 6-7.5 crri i n width and 1.5 cm in thickness in the central portion. 

 The jade exhibits a leaf -green color containing various shades of green 

 intermingled with black streaks. 



The large heavy hammer (weight 3^ lbs.) on Plate III is the 

 most remarkable specimen among these jade implements from the 

 graves of Shensi. It is carved from a fine plant-green jade covered on 

 the lower face and the one lateral side visible in the plate with iron- 

 rust colored spots (black in the illustration). In shape, it is unlike any 

 of the others, and though the blade is formed like that of a hammer 

 (compare Plate II, Fig. 1), it ends abruptly in a broad and blunt edge 

 (2.2 cm high) exhibiting a rough surface evidently much used for pound- 

 ing. The general shape of the implement is rectangular, the lower 

 face and the butt are almost plain, the lateral sides are straight. The 

 upper surface is slanting in two planes towards the butt. Two large 

 perforations are bored by means of a tubular drill 1 through the central 

 part of the body, side by side, separated only by a narrow strip 1 mm 

 in width and translucent when struck by the light. The two holes 

 have been bored from the top where they form fairly regular circles 

 (the one 3.5 cm, the other 3.8 cm in diameter), while they are more 

 irregular on the lower face. It is hard to see the purpose of these two 

 hollow cylinders, if it was not the object to diminish the weight of this 

 heavy piece. The two tubes cut out were, of course, very useful to 

 yield the material for other carvings. The perforation near the butt 

 was convenient when using the implement as a pounder; the palm 



'Described in Bishop, Vol. I, p. 203 and Bushell, Chinese Art, Vol. I, p. 144. 



