AXES AND ADZES. 



79 



obtained b}' the spalder with a rather heavy pebble hamnier, but the nature of the stone 

 is so different from the couchoidally fracturing flint that the shaping had mostly to 

 be done b}^ grinding, hence I was surprised to find few grindstones. Perhaps, as the 

 workshop was abandoned long before the stone adze went out of use, the portable grind- 

 stones (See Fig. 9) were carried away to sharpen the old adzes, of which there was cer- 

 tainly a great supply. No stone implement is found so universally or abundantly all 

 over the group. A study of this collec^lion, small as it is, throws some light on the 

 procedi:re of the old adze-makers. Apparently a number of spalls were chipped from 

 the core when the fire test had proved the absence of air cells, and then a seleCliou made 

 for the various sizes and kinds of adzes desired, and it will 

 be seen from Plate LVIII. that there was a great range 

 in size, and even very small spalls might be utilized, as 

 in No. 4602. The spall was chipped roughly into the 

 desired shape, and if the stone was refradlory and would 

 not split as desired it was used for some other shape, or cast 

 aside. Then the end intended for the blade was ground 

 straight across as shown in No. 3, and to this normal the 

 front and back were afterward ground. This first grind- 

 ing served probably also to show the compaAness or grain 

 of the stone. No. i indicates that the sides were ground 

 last, for in the fragment one side is ground smooth, the 

 otlier partly. It will be seen on some of the many figures 

 of adzes given that this iinish was sometimes omitted on 

 otherwise well finished adzes. No. 10 shows a partly 

 formed adze with the sides ground and the blade broken 

 away. No. 9 is a cellular highly silicious spall rejected 

 as an impurity ; in fact it seems a scum of the clinkstone. 

 No. 15 is a fragment with large flat cells that have been 

 exposed b}' the fire test.* No. 8 was fully formed for grinding and the edge was 

 partly ground when the corner split off and the work stopped. No. 16 shows half of 

 a spall of very heavy clinkstone suitable for a short adze or a scraper without tang. 

 No. 19 seems to have been formed as far as possible by chipping and was ready for 

 the grinding that never came. No. 4 shows a fragment of a rare form shown more 

 fully in Fig. 77, which represents an adze (full size) of unknown use with the blade 

 at an angle of 75°, with the axis of the adze like a turner's chisel. This is in the 

 possession of Professor Curtis J. Lyons, of the Government Survey, who kindly lent the 

 specimen for illustration. I think these adzes (of which I have seen only these two 



*It is generally the case that where cells occur in otherwise closcgrained lava that the application of heat gives explosive force to the 

 imprisoned air or other gas, and once while camping on Olokui, a mountain of Molokai. I built a fireplace of compact fragments of stone, 

 and as the heat of the fire permeated the stones explosions so violent took place that we were obliged to move away for safety. 



[411] 



FIG. 77. HAWAIIAN ADZE) WITH 

 OBLIQUE BLADE. 



