20 NETW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Hazard, p. 517. It seeDis better to make the word mean Knife- 

 makers than to refer it to axes. Axe is atolco. In the old 

 Mohawk assire was cloth, and a^serc knives, so that either defini- 

 tion wonld stand as jiiven by Megapolensis. 



Loskiel said, " IMauy of the Delawares and Iroquois have 

 learned to make very good ritie-barrels of common fowling- 

 pieces, and keep them likewise in good repair." They also 

 learned to make silver ornaments from coin, and even to insert 

 colored glass when desired. 



Native copiier articles 



It will be seen that articles of native copper stand distinctly 

 apart from all others, and should be considered by themselves. 

 With slight exceptions those of New York have a useful char- 

 acter, and were probably all made before the close of the 15th 

 century. Some found on early Huron sites in Canada may have 

 had a more recent date and some mav well have been known to 

 the later Hurons, reaching them through western trade. The 

 form suggesting our case knife has been thought to show a 

 knowledge of European art, but specimens of this are rare both 

 in Canada and New York. The copper hooks of AYisconsin 

 imply the same, but no early examples of these have appeared 

 here. 



One fact must be borne in mind in sfjeaking of the scarcity of 

 any early metallic articles. In early pioneer days in New York 

 recent Iroquois village sites w^ere prized sources of supply for 

 iron and brass. Reference to this will be made later. Native 

 copper articles have proved useful or salable, and many a one 

 has gone into the crucible. Some of the finest figured by the 

 writer have been barely rescued from such a fate, and others 

 lay for years in the farmer's tool chest, serving some rude end. 

 The present scarcity is therefore no absolute test of former num- 

 bers, though they were probably small. This is partly inferred 

 from the ojieuing of new sites, where other articles abound. 

 Those found seem to have belonged to transient visitors and 

 not to a settled people. 



