STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 265 



rare ; at least, we have onl^- met with some eight or teu during four years' 

 systematic collecting. The jasper forms are of all the colors that appear 

 in that mineral — red, yellow, brown, blue, green, chocolate, and varie- 

 gated. They never exhibit the fine finish of some of the nrrow-iX)ints, 

 and appear to have been made, in a great measure, of portions ©f the 

 jasper masses that could not be fashioned into those remarkably delicate 

 shapes which, as will be seen in another chapter, are exhibited in some 

 of the arrow-points that we have gathered, tlasper is not found in Xew 

 Jersey in situ; fragments and an occasional pebble in the river-gravels 

 being all that occur, except in the shape of finished " relics." The frag- 

 ments, however, are abundant about sites of aboriginal villages. Sandy 

 fields, with no stone of any kind near, are occasionally thickly dotted 

 with the little flakes and " failures " of some ancient arrow-maker. 



Figure 27 is a beautiful mass of many-colored jasper, red and yellow 

 predominating, that has been laboriously chipped until brought to its 

 present shape, which, we think, warrants its being designated a hatchet; 

 but, indeed, v»ere there not other specimens to be found that more clearly 

 show the work of man, it might be considered merely a chance-shaped 

 fragment of a jasper bowlder. We give it the first place in our list of 

 hatchets because of its size, it being the largest specimen that we have 

 met with, and as serving as a good link between this form of weapon 

 and the axes proper ; and certainly-, from its size, it was fitted to perform 

 the duties of any ax we have figured. The hatchet (figure 27) mea- 

 sures six inches in length by three and one quarter inches in width. It 

 is chipped to an edge at one end and along the upper and lower mar- 

 gins. The amount of work expended upon it is very great, and we 

 should judge to very little purpose, if wood-cutting was the intended use 

 of the implement; but for mussel-shell crushing, or, better yet, bone- 

 splitting — its most likelj'^ use — it is moderately well adapted. The illus- 

 tration is very imperfect in its details, although correct in outline. It 

 shows far too few of the innumerable surfaces caused by the forcing-off 

 of small flakes, from ever^- portion of the surface, to give a good idea of 

 the specimen itself. The edge, which was apparently much sharper, has 

 been dulled by use and long weathering. It bears no traces of a handle 

 having ever been attached ; and yet it would seem to be comparatively 

 useless unless wielded by such an appendage. 



Figure 28 represents a not uncommon form of Hint hatchet, that we 

 considered, when we found the specimen figured here, as rare. Since 

 then we have met with a large number, all agreeing with it in size, shape, 

 and material. It may be questioned, perhaps, if such an implement 

 should be called a hatchet; many would look upon it as a "scraper." 

 We shall see, however, that those specimens, so abundant in Now Jersey, 

 antl which we have called "scrapers,'' are much smaller chipped fiints 

 .as a class, and have a handle of the mineral itself; the complete imple- 

 ment being chipped out of one piece. We, thereforc, incline to the 

 belief that this specimen is a double-edged hatchet, if the ends were 



