28 NEW YORK STATE MUISEUM 



cylinder and hammered together. One end is thin. It was 



found on the Oneida river about 20 years ago but its present 



owner is not known. The length is 2J inches. 



Fig. 17 is a shar}> and slender awl from Mr S. L. Frey's article 



in the American nuNirallst of October 1871), entitled '' \Vere they 



mound-builders?" He said: 



It might have been used for piercing holes in buckskin gar- 

 ments but as implements for this purpose were usually made 

 of bone, with the point rounded and sharpened in a similar 

 manner, and as these were obtained with comparative ease and 

 were equally serviceable for sewing purposes, I think that pos- 

 sibly this copper im])lement had a ditferent, or at any rate an 

 additional use. According to many early writers the natives 

 at the time of the discovery were found in possession of orna- 

 ments, necklaces, etc. of pearls, the perforating of which was 

 done with a heated copper spindle. The square shape of this 

 implement indicates that it has been set in a handle, and the 

 point being very smooth, shows use of some kind. That it was 

 intended for a drill of this description seems not improbable 

 when viewed in connection with certain shell relics subsequently 

 found, and which are described in this article. 



The great neatness of this implement led to further inquiry 

 and Mr Frey wrote: " The copper awl you figure from my draw- 

 ing is exact. It is just as smooth and well finished as repre- 

 sented. It is the only prehistoric copper I ever found; in fact 

 the only one, as far as I know, ever found in this section." This 

 illustrates the curious elimination of earlv travel and habitation 

 in the Mohawk valley. East, north and west of that valley, 

 native copper articles have been often found. 



The burial place was of a mixed character, for at the time he 

 found this Mi' Frey had not discovered the curious graves and 

 relics whi<h rewarded his labors at a lat(M' day. In his earlier 

 digging he had foiiud "at one time, in a grave, -U) arrowheads and 

 a small copper awl." In one of those? opened afterward he 

 found copper beads, to be mentioned later. This judicious 

 observer noted the widely different character of the graves, 

 concluding that they could not be those of the same people. It 

 is also to be remembered that there was no large village site 

 close at hand, and that part of the cemetery had becm removed 

 before examination. The writer has since examined this awl. 



