PREHISTORIC ART. 



449 



(Orifiiiial Amer. Mu 



Fig. 102. 



BANNER STONE. 



Hudson City, New Jersey. 



i. Nat. Hist., New York.) Cast, Cat. No. 1170, U.S.N. M. 

 ?-.i natural size; 



The thinness of the blade as well as of the barrel or center, with the size 

 of the hole, leaving the walls so thin and frail, are all to be remarked 

 as evidence of the mechanical skill and manual dexterity of the abo- 

 rigines. Fig. 103 is an implement w hich may or may not be one of the 

 banner stones, bnt it is evidently related thereto. It might pass for a 

 hatchet or double-bitted ax, the hole being drilled in the center as for 

 a handle, but this use is 

 negatived by the fragil- 

 ity and softness of the 

 material, which is band- 

 ed slate. The entire sur- 

 face is highly polished 

 and the outlines are true 

 and correct. The edge 

 is as sharp as the mater- 

 ial will make. The hole, 

 however, is quite too 

 small for a handle by 

 which the implement 

 could be used as an ax. 

 A single blow would destroy it, breaking both its edge and the hole. 

 A ceremonial use is the only one suggested for these and similar imple- 

 ments. Fig. 104 was received from Peale's Museum, Philadeljjhia, and 

 was originally from near Norristown, Pennsylvania. It is of slate, and 

 has been worked up to its present perfected state by the operations 



already describ- 

 ed. The form is 

 peculiar a n d 

 shows the nonu- 

 tilitarian ch ar- 

 acter of the im- 

 plement. The 

 sectional view ex- 

 plains the drill- 

 ing. Plate 32 

 represents three 

 of these objects. 

 The first, from 

 Tennessee, i s 

 whole; the sec- 

 ond has been broken in half and drilled as though for secondary use — 

 possibly as a pendant. These two specimens are introduced to show 

 the decoration, consisting of fine notches like saw teeth cut in the 

 edges, and are the only pieces so marked in the entire series of these 

 objects in the United States National Museum. In the one object these 

 notches have been cut at right angles on the edge, while on the other 

 NAT MUS 90 20 



'^ii!^Sr n !'''' '^ ''"'' '"'''* ' ' ^ j8UJihii-!aH ' '^r ' '! '' " '' '"^ ^ 



■Stj^f^- 



Fig. 1U3. 

 BANNER STONE OP BANDED SLATE. 



Paris, Kenosha County, Wiscousin. 



Cast, Cat. No. 11691, U.S.N. M. k, natur.al size. 



