DEVKLorMENT OF PKIMAL SHAPIiNU AltTS. 50*,) 



of s))cci:ilize(l shapes and uses, and os])ocialIy to the production of 

 iiiiplciiKMits witli sliar}) })oints or cutting edges. 



Tlie natural tendeiu-y of the i)ecking blow i.s to l)hint and destroy 

 all edges, and the process would have to be diverted from its natural 

 channels ))V strong forces to make it produce anything like an edged 

 tool; the conception of such a use would have to beaccpiired by famili- 

 arity with edged tools of other classes and materials. The celt, gouge, 

 and grooved ax are the principal implements made by pecking and 

 grinding in common use among savage peoples. These can not be 

 })rimal forms, as they represent ripened conceptions, specialized tech- 

 nique, skillful manipulation, and highly ditierentiated uses and methods 

 of employment. They are practicalh^ without ancestry in their own 

 line. Altogether there seems to be little or no art produced bv the 

 pecking and grinding processes that could be safely assigned to primal 

 times, save such adventitious shaping as comes from use. An examina- 

 tion of pecked tools reveals the fact that in very many cases the process 

 supplements that of flaking, and it is not impossible that it was first 

 brought into notice and use as a means of getting rid of irregularities 

 and excrescences common!}' resulting from imperfect fracture. Peck- 

 ing Avould inevitably })e suggested in the progress of flaking operations, 

 rirst, hy the effect on the hammer stone, which is modified and special- 

 ized by repeated contact with the stone flaked; second, by repeated 

 efl'orts to remo\'e flakes where the stone happens to l)e especially 

 refractor}-. The repeated ])lows bruise the stone, modifying its shape, 

 and suggesting the possibility of shaping by this means. The abrad- 

 ing i)rocesses might also ])e suggested in similar ways, and especially 

 by the use of flaked tools in operations which modified and polished 

 their edges. 



Both the pecking and rubbing processes are especially adapted to 

 elaboration and finish, and are poorly qualified to deal with shapes not 

 already approximate. I'hey did not attain their highest usefulness 

 until superstition and aesthetics became factors in art, encouraging 

 elaboration of form and delicacy of finish. 



The accompanying diagram expresses in the most general way ni}^ 

 conceptions of the probable relationships of the four shaping pro- 

 cesses to the stages of culture progress. The accumulation of addi- 

 tional data will in time enable us to express these relations more full}' 

 and with more certainty, but the task is beset with difficulties, for the 

 reason, mainly, that the origin and progress of these arts are not uni- 

 form among all peoples. The genetic columns can at best but express 

 generalizations, and are largely hypothetical. 



The colunui representing the development of fracturing arts, so far 

 a.s it relates to the earliest times, is based on the observations and 

 inferences already presented. The flaking act was a primal act, and 

 the dotted line descending into the pre-human stage indicates this. On 



