STONE AGE IN NEW JERSEY. oil 



ing and somewhat smooth, and in the center of the upper surface of 

 the stone is a depression, perfectly circular at the top, and deepening 

 with regularity to a point at the bottom. The appearance is that of the 

 commencement of a hole by drilling, and is very different from the 

 "tinger-pits" which we shall see on stone-hammers, when we come to 

 describe them. 



In the specimen here described, as in very many others, there is a 

 decided discoloration of the depression, as though drilled with metal, 

 particles of which had adhered to the sides of the cup or hollow made. 

 It is not a metallic discoloration, however, as proved by examination 

 with a powerful lens. 



Just such stones as the one above described are very common 

 throughout the State, and, overlooking the drilled (?) hollow, in the 

 top, are considered simply the " crushers" used with the portable corn- 

 mills. They probably had some other use, as in that case there would 

 be no object in making any mark, however slight, upon the upper sur- 

 face, which in no May tends to assist in the crushing of the grain, the 

 stone simply being held in the hand and revolved. 



We have thought that these stones might be in some way connected 

 with the production of fire. Sir John Lubbock figures* a Dacotah 

 fire-drill bow, which consists of two plates or slabs of wood, one at each 

 end of the drill, which is itself revolved b}' a bow-string being looped 

 around it and the bow then drawn rapidly to and fro. That is devel- 

 oped by the rapid revolutions of the drill, and communicated to frag- 

 ments of rotten wood applied to the lower end of the drill. Now, as we 

 find these stoue slabs most abundant on the sites of old Indian villages, 

 they are probably a domestic implement, and we have thought they were 

 used as the lower plate in which the fire-drill revolved : fibers of dead 

 wood being heaped about the drill, where it enters the little depression 

 on the top of the plate, would be ignited very readily. 



Sir John Lubbock does not say whether the slabs, seen in his illustra- 

 tion of a fire-drill, are wood or stone. 



We are under the impression, however, that fire was produced among 

 our Xew Jersey Indians by friction in simply violently rubbing one 

 stick ui)on another, and if solely obtained in that manner, we, can give 

 no explanation of the presence of these large stones, which by trial we 

 find well adapted for the purpose suggested, in connection with the 

 bow-drill. 



Figure 215 represents a peculiarly-chipped piece of yellowish-bro\vn 

 Jasper, which, when found, was exactly twice its present length, and was 

 the more valuable because the fragment which was broken off extended 

 nearly at right-angles to the portion here illustrated. In its present con- 

 dition this specimen measures three and a half inches in length, is an inch 

 and a half wide, and half an inch thick. The under side is comparatively 

 smooth — about as the majority of jasper spear and arrow points ; the 



"Prehistoric Times, 2cl ed., p. 514, fig. 224. 



