STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. 307 



in collections other than our own, vary considerably in outline, tbougli 

 but little in general finish, and may all be described as polislied peb- 

 bles, with some i)ortion of the rim brought to a cutting-edge. iL has 

 also been shown that these and the hand- axes, or those without a gioove, 

 have many features in common, and, indeed, that they (the skinning- 

 knives and hand-axes without grooves) are identical, except in size; 

 but whether some of the specimens are classed as the one or the other 

 implement depends much upon the fancy of the collector. 



We now propose calling attention to the apparent identity of the 

 more common forms of skiuniug-knives and of some of the smaller 

 hand-axes with the class of stone implements known to European archae- 

 ologists as " polished celts." 



Mr. Evans* says: "The general form of stone celts is * * * * 

 usually that of more or less Hat blades, approaching an oval in section, 

 with the sides more or less straight, and one end broader and also 

 sharper than the other. In length they vary from about two inches to 

 as much as sixteen inches." 



It will be seen from this description of "celts," as a class, that the 

 specimens represented by figures 116, 117, 118, would be called in Eng- 

 land " celts," as would also all the "hand-axes" that we have figured. 

 If, therefore, it w-ere proper to separate the two forms in America, why 

 should they not be so separated when studied abroad ? Is it not prob- 

 able that these implements, being identical in everything except the 

 mineral of which they are made, had identical uses? 



Some of the illustrations given by Mr. Evans of polished celts are 

 very similar to those we have given ; and, in fact, he speaks t of " hema- 

 tite celts found in oS'orth America of much the same size and form" as 

 those occurring in Great Britain and France. 



As to the uses to which our " skinning-knives" and the European 

 celts were put, Mr. Evans remarks : " They were used chiefly for cut- 

 ting dowji timber, and for scooping canoes out of the trunks of forest 

 trees; for dressing posts for huts; for grubbing up roots and killing 

 animals for food ; for preparing lire- wood; for scraping the flesh from 

 the bones when eating; and for various other purposes in the domestic 

 arts. But they were also employed in times of war as weapons of 

 ofiense and defense, as a suj)plementary kind of tomahawk." 



We see here, indeed, a vride range of uses, and so varied are they 

 that we should think their separation might easily be based upon such 

 a list of purposes for which these implements were intended. Surely a 

 " celt " a foot in length, perhaps, available for cutting down trees, would 

 rather be in the way than useful " for scraping the flesh from bones when 

 eating," while one two inches in length would scarcely befitted for digging 

 uproots or killing animals suIJQciently large for food; yet such celts 

 occur, and are moderately well adapted to skinning animals when once 



* Auc. Stone Imp. of Great Brit., p. 51. t L. c, ]}. 110. 



