NORTH AMERICAN STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



By Charles Rau. 



The division of the European stone age into a period of chipped stone, 

 and a succeeding one of ground or polished stoue, or, into the j)alaeo- 

 lithic and neolithic periods, seems to be fully borne out by facts, and is 

 likely to remain an nucontroverted basis for future investigatiou in 

 Europe. In Korth America chipped as well as ground implements are 

 abundant; yet they occur promiscuously, and thus far cannot be re- 

 ferred respectively to certain epochs iu the development of the abo- 

 rigines of the country. Archaeological investigation iu North America, 

 however, is but of recent date, and a careful ex;amination of our caves 

 and drift-beds possibly may lead to results similar to those obtained in 

 Europe. When in the latter jiart of the world man lived contempo- 

 raneously with the now extinct large pachydermatous and carnivorous 

 auimals, he used unground flint tools of rude workmanship, which were 

 superseded iu the later stages of the European stoue age, comprising 

 the neolithic period, by more finished articles of flint and other stone, 

 many of which were brought into final shape by the processes of grind- 

 ing and polishing. In North America stone implements likewise have 

 been found associated with the osseous remains of extinct animals; yet 

 these implements, it appears, differed in no wise from those in use among 

 the aborigines at the period of their first intercourse with the whites. 



In the year 1839, the late Dr. Albert C. Koch discovered in the bot- 

 tom of the Bourbeuse Eiver, iu Gasconade County, Missouri, the re- 

 mains of a Mastodon giganteus under very peculiar circumstances. The 

 greater portion of the bones appeared more or less burned, and there 

 was sufficient evidence that the fire had been kindled by human agency, 

 and with the design of killing the huge creature, which ha<l been found 

 mired in the mud, and in an entirely helpless condition. The animal's 

 fore and hind legs, untouched by the fire, were in a perpendicular posi- 

 tion, with the toes attached to the feet, showing that the ground iu 

 which the animal had sunk, now a grayish-colored clay, was in a plastic 

 condition when the occurrence took place. Those portions of the skele- 

 ton, however, which had been exposed above the surface of the clay, 

 were partially consumed by the fire, and a layer of wood-ashes and 

 charred bones, varying in thickness from two to six inches, indicated 

 that the burning had been continued for some lengtli of time. The fire 

 appearedxto have been most destructive around the head of the animal. 

 Mingled with the ashes and bones wus a large number of broken pieces 



