STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 299 



the same remarks will apply to the subject of the general finish of speci- 

 mens. 



Several of the specimens figured by Mr. Evans are identical with the 

 Luuting-spears and harpoon points described in Chapters VII and VIII; 

 and these two forms, that appear to us to have had distinct nses, are 

 called by Mr. Evans "javelin-points." There is some advantage in 

 studying these various forms of stone implements here in New Jersey, 

 since they were in use down to historical times, and the writings of the 

 travelers who visited this country nearly two centuries ago throw con- 

 siderable light upon the manner of their manufacture and use. If, there- 

 fore, the same implements the world overbad the 8ameuse,then thoseuow 

 found in America, which were the latest made and used, should decide the 

 names and purposes of all, wherever found. A careful survey of a very large 

 series of arrow-heads, all gathered from one limited locality, has con- 

 vinced us that when the bow was first brought into use in this neigh- 

 borhood, the art of arrow-point making was unknown, or in its earliest 

 infancy, and that the first "Hint" heads to the arrows were butthin flakes 

 of slate, and possibly of jasper, that were the necessary result of shaping 

 out the rude hatchets that primitive man mainly depended upon as a 

 tool and weapon, for food and defense. Our reason for thus believing is 

 that, as a rule, the rudest, least symmetrical arrow-heads are those which 

 show the greatest degree of " weathering," or surface-decomposition. 

 Very many of these rude arrow-points are now of the consistency, or 

 thereabouts, of chalk, except in the middle, where the mineral is hard, 

 black, and flint-like. Some of these specimens have lost nearly all 

 trace of their original sbape, but, being softened down uniformhj, by 

 scraping ofl' the chalky surface, we reproduce on a smaller scale the 

 original outline of the arrow-head. It can be set down as a rule that 

 " rotten" arrow-points are rude, and undecomposed jasper specimens 

 are elaborate. "Will it be said that the jasper is simply not decomi)os- 

 able? If so, why were not those of softer stone, being so much more 

 easily v.orked, made into the fantastic shapes that we find produced in 

 jasper ? The '• soft" minerals will admit of it. 



We have no knowledge of the origin of the bow and arrow ; but wo 

 believe it to have originated here, and many years subsequently to the 

 first a})pearance of those rude implements we have described in the sec- 

 ond chapter of this work. As rt originated here, so did it elsewhere 

 come into use ; the same surroundings produced the same result, but it 

 is useless now to speculate on the manner and time. 



