828 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



.A 



with objects of the l!^eolitliic period, constitute satisfactory evidence 

 that man of the Paleolithic i)erio(l made and used harpoons, and conse- 

 quently must have been able to make spears and javelius. The differ- 

 ence between the two is more in name than aught else. They are both 

 used in the same way, both serve the same ])urpose, and with the varia- 

 tion of material and barbs are essentially the same Aveapon. 



These bone and horn harpoons serve to elucidate similar implements of 



the same period made of flint and to identify 

 them as spears or javelins and not arrows. 



Figs. 11, ]2, 13, and 14 show a number of 

 the well-known ' leaf-shaped implements, 

 called in France feuille de lanricr, or laurel 

 leaf, from their resemblance to it in shape. 

 This period represents as high a degree of 

 mechanical skill in flint chipping as any 

 other in the world's history. 



An examination of these implements is 

 required to understand the delicacy of their 

 manufacture. It required much experience 

 to obtain the needed amount of manual 

 dexterity. One of these leaf-shaped imple- 

 ments, found en cache "with ten others, is 

 shown in lig. 11. It is one ot the largest, 

 being 14 inches long, 3^ inches broad, and 

 its greatest thickness is less than three- 

 eighths of an inch. The original is in the 

 museum of Chalon-sur-Saone. The imple- 

 ment is made entirely by chipping, the fin- 

 ishing on the edge of which would aiq)ear 

 to have been done by pressure and not by 

 strokes. No flint-knapper of the present 

 day, whether amateur or professional, has 

 yet been able to reproduce one of these fine 

 Solutreen leaf-shaped implements. The 

 U. S. IS^ational Museum has had many times 

 to contend with fraudulent and spurious 

 specimens which showed considerable manual dexterity, but it has 

 never been presented with counterfeits of these beautiful implements. 

 They were i)erfectly adapted for insertion in a handle and could then 

 be used with effect as spears or javelins, according to their size and 

 weight. They might have been taken in the hand and used as knives, 

 the hand being protected by a bit of the skin of an animal or a bunch 

 of grass. They were of all sizes (the figures are two-thirds natural 

 size) and came down from the large one just mentioned, through gradar 

 tions, to those not more than three-fourths of an inch long and one- 

 half an inch wdde. Figs. 15 to 18 show implements of the same 



Fig. 14. 



Fig. 12. 

 SOLUTEtEN POINTS OF CHIPPED FLINT 



Frauce. 



Cast,Cat.No.99747, U.S.N. M. =3 liaturalsize 



