38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



ax or broad gouge from Avon X. Y. given to that museum by 

 Dr William Xisbert. This form seems more common in the 

 Genesee valley and that of the Susquehanna than elsewhere. 

 The general form is that of the ax, but the edge is slightly hol- 

 lowed, as will be seen in one of the sections. Fig. ITT shows a 

 piece of native copper given by Dr Xisbert and coming from the 

 same place. It has been hammered into a rude celtlike form but 

 has not been finished. Its importance is in this lack of comple- 

 tion, showing that some native copper articles may have been 

 made here. Very few of such fragments have been found. 



Fig. 1T3 is from an article entitled " The mound-builders," by 

 W. L. Stone, in the September number of the Magazine of Ameri- 

 can Jiistori/, 18T8, p. 532. It is of a spearhead found in 18T6, near 

 the outlet of Saratoga lake and north of Moon's Lake house, by 

 J. W. Coit. Fig. 1T4 is from the same article and is a figure of a 

 similar but larger spearhead. This was found the same year by 

 Horace Kelly, 2 miles up the lake on the Ramsdill farm. The 

 point has been broken off. Both these slender sj^earheads have 

 pointed tangs and are typical specimens. 



In the same article Mr Kelly is credited with finding another 

 fine spearhead at Ramsdill's cove on Saratoga lake. Xo descrip- 

 tion or figure of this is given but Mr Stone said it was tinged 

 with red, apparently vermilion. If this were the case the article 

 would be modern. Another curious find by the same person was 

 a skull, colored on each side by verdigris. From this Mr Stone 

 inferred the use of copper earrings. His article has some inter- 

 esting statements and curious conclusions. Considering its 

 sparse population the region about Saratoga and Lake Champlain 

 has been unusually prolific in native copper articles. It is prob- 

 able they were brought directly from Lake Superior, through the 

 Georgian bay and Ottawa river to the St Lawrence, and thence 

 into Lake Champlain. This was an early and well known route. 



Fig, 1T2 is a fine and broad spearhead of native copper from a 

 drawing by Mr Van Epps, made Aug. 1, 1901. It was found in 

 Saratoga county many years ago and now belongs to William T. 

 Becker of Schenectady. In this specimen the broad tang is quite 

 short and by itself would have afforded a slight hold to the shaft. 



