250 ETHNOLOGY. 



most purposes, but best adapted pi^obably for incising the skin of an 

 animal with tbe point, and then, by tbe long cutting-margins, detaching 

 the skin from the carcass. The point has probably been much more 

 acute than now, and, when in its original condition, it certainly could 

 have been so used ; or, held in the hand by the base, it would, by a well- 

 directed blow, split the long, hollow bones of a bison for obtaining the 

 marrow, being, for such a purpose, an admirable combination of wedge, 

 hammer, and hatchet; and such split bison-bones have been found in 

 New Jersey. 



Figure 5 represents a specimen most like a weapon of any of the rude 

 implements we have as yet been able to find. Its shape at once suggests 

 its use, and, considering the rough workmanship that has been expended 

 upon it, it seems admirably adapted to the supposed use to which it was 

 put. It foreshadows the tomahawk of more modern times. There appear 

 to have been no fractures since the implement was made. The whole 

 surface presents the same degree of weather-worn appearance, and it is 

 doubtful if even the rude edges were more regular in design or sharper 

 than at present. Very nearly eight inches in length, the specimen may, 

 for purposes of description, be divided into two sections — the front or 

 blade of the weapon, and the hammer-head or back. The blade or front 

 portion is four inches in length, forming nearly a continuous line with 

 the top of the back ; the elevation of the outline or margin being less 

 than half an inch at the angle of the back and edge. Below, the line 

 of the back and that of the blade form an obtuse angle ; the blade being 

 beneath an inch and three-eighths wider than the narrower portion or 

 hammer-head. The entire margin of this specimen has been chipped 

 into its present shape and condition, giving it a rndelj-rounded appear- 

 ance at the top, edge, bottom, and extremity of the back. This chip- 

 ping has not been done by an ordinary hammer stone, i)ecking off the 

 small fragments and producing the peculiar dotted appearance common 

 to the ordinary grooved cobble-stone axes ; but the stone has been 

 Jinked off in larger pieces, although the appearance varies from the 

 shelly fracture of jasper, having nothing in common with those minerals 

 that have this peculiar fracture, well named conchoidal. As a large 

 portion of the side of this specimen is smooth, it is probable that the 

 mass, as originally detached from the rock, bore some resemblance to 

 the weapon or implement as it now appears. The interest, as it seems 

 to us, that attaches itself to this rude hatchet, is that it is the most 

 primitive specimen we have met with that clearly indicates that a 

 handle has been fastened to it. A split or forked sapling could have 

 been as readily attached to an ax of this shape as to any of the grooved 

 forms. The shallow notch beneath, at the junction of the back and 

 blade, was evidently so chipped to make the attached handle more 

 secure. Armed with such a weapon, a powerful man could do great exe- 

 cution in close combat. 



It must be borne in mind that the specimens here figured are not iso- 



