8 so PAPEKS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



flakes beiug generally parallel, which is the object of a good workman 

 to make them. When the flat side by chipping has been reduced to 

 nearly therequh^ed form, its edges are in the best possible shape for chip- 

 ping the opposite or high side, then by alternate working from side to 

 side the point is finished, either leaving it with serrated edges or by after 

 delicate work throwing oft" the points, leaving a smooth, sharp edge. 

 The indentations at the base either for barbs or for thongs to secure 

 the point to its shaft are made by direct down pressure of a sharp point 

 working alternately from side to side, the arrow-point being held firmly 

 on its flat face. From the narrowness of the cuts in some of the speci- 

 mens, and the thickness of the stone where they terminate, I have in- 

 clined to the belief that at the period they were made, the aborigines had 

 something stronger than bone to operate with, as I have never been able 

 to imitate some of their deep, heavy cuts with it; but I have succeeded 

 by using a copper point, which possesses all the properties of the bone, 

 in holding to its work without slipping and has the strength for direct 

 thrust required. A soft iron or thoroughly annealed steel point answers 

 even a better purpose. As yet no copper has been found on this flaking 

 ground, though a few copper beads and remnants of what appear to 

 have been ornaments have been taken from mounds on the ridges of the 

 Saline, which I think is evidence that they had that metal at the earliest 

 time work was done on this flaking bank. 



Bryce Wright in his description of the Scandinavian knives or dag- 

 gers refers to them as being most beautifully dentilled with parallel 

 flaking and serrated edges. He says : " These knives or lauces are true 

 marvels of pre-historic art, and show an amount of skill and workman- 

 ship which cannot be imitated in the i)resent age, the art of fashioning 

 them having been entirely lost." Sir John Lubbock, on page 104 of 

 "Prehistoric Times," says: "The crimping along the edge of the handle 

 is very curious." As to parallel tiakings with serrated edge, I have 

 endeavored to show (from a mechanical standpoint) that the refuse 

 of the great flint quarries points to a mode of working that must leave 

 the dentilled markings parallel, and the edges worked from, serrated. 

 What Lubbock speaks of as curious crimping on the edge of the han- 

 dles IS but the natural result of the mode of working 1 have exam- 

 ined these Scandinavian dagger handles, and find the same appearance 

 on the blades of large-size broken piercers, numbers of which I have 

 found among the rubbish, picked up, examined, and thrown away as im- 

 perfect specimens. Some of them have a spread, flat end or handle of 

 over li inch, with nearly square blades, evidently having been worked 

 by down pressure from the edges corresponding to the spread end, these 

 45 degrees flakes meeting form angles and produce the square. The 

 interlocking of the flakes at their meeting causes the crimped appear- 

 ance, in some cases not unlike a row of beads, very beautiful, but not 

 made with any such view, but simply the natural result of the mode of 

 working. 



