STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. dbo 



Lewis and Clarke* describe a weapon in use among tlie Shoshone 

 Indians as follows : 



" The poggamoggon is an instrument consisting of a handle twenty- 

 two inches long, made of wood, covered with dressed leather, about the 

 size of a whip-handle. At one end is a thong of two inches in length, 

 which is tied to a round stone weighing two pounds, and is held in a 

 cover of leather. At the other end is a loop of the same material which 

 is passed round the wrist so as to secure the hold of the instrument, 

 with which they strike a very severe blow." 



In this description we notice that a thong is tied about the stone, and 

 to secure it a shallow groove would be desirable, if not necessary. Such 

 a groove we have in the larger, b(itter-made grooved pebbles we have 

 described, and although our Xew Jersey specimens do not reach two 

 pounds in weight, they are generally larger than the roughly-finished 

 specimens. 



3Ir. George C. Musters t has given us a most interesting account of 

 the weapons and hunting implements of the Tehuelche Indians, and m 

 his description of the " bolas " now in use by these savages, refers to 

 ancient bolas, which seem to be identical with the grooved pebbles, or 

 " net- weights," that we have described. Mr. Musters writes : " Ancient 

 bolas (globular stones) are not unfrequently met with. These are highly 

 valued by the Indians, and dili'er from those in present use hy having 

 grooves cut around them, and by their larger size and greater weight." 

 There is no reason for believing that the Patagonian bolas were ever 

 in use among the Xorth American Indians ; but it is possible that the 

 simplest form of such a weapon, a globular stone with a cord attached 

 — the Bola lierdida of the Tehuelches — may have originated at some 

 central i^oint, say Brazil, and thence developed into the ordinary two 

 and three balled bolas of Patagonia and the poggamoggon of the north- 

 ern continent. Nevertheless we see nothing objectionable to the view 

 that these two forms may have arisen separately, the country and game 

 in each case suggesting, in the one the bola, in the other the poggamog- 

 gon ; and, in the absence of a knowledge of metals, what was more 

 natural than to choose a globular i)ebble, and to groove it in order to se- 

 cure the heavy weight to a flexible cord or handle ? 



As there are simpler forms of "worked" pebbles, which in our opin- 

 ion were used as " sinkers," as well as the rougher specimens of grooved 

 globular pebbles, we have assumed that specimens such as figure 203 

 were used as weapons allied to or identical with the poggamoggon. 

 Other uses, however, may have been found for these same globular stones ; 

 for instance, we lind in Schoolcraft's work an illustration of a war-club 

 with such a small round stone inserted in a notch in the end of the club, 

 giving the completed implement the appearance of an ordinary wrench 

 with a small object held in its jaws. 



* Exp. up the Missouri, vol. i, page 415. Phihulel. 1814. 

 t At liorae with the Patagoniaus, p. lOG. 



