ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, AND KNIVES. 



895 



of the Paleolithic period, and the thiu one, pointed at both ends, to a 

 much later epoch. The first belongs to the Chelh'cn, Mammoth, C)ave- 

 bear, or Alluvium epoch; the second to 

 the Solutreen, lieindeer, or Cavern epoch. 



The distinctions between these epochs 

 have not been made in the United States, 

 and possibly do not exist. But the author 

 has ventured to investigate whether the 

 Paleolithic period had not possibly an ex- 

 istence in the United States, and to sug- 

 gest that these rude and thick implements, 

 acknowledged by all to be so characteristic 

 of the Paleolithic i)eri()d in Europe, and 

 so unknown to the Xeolithic period in both 

 Europe and America, may not have been 

 its representatives. 



Of the thiu, true leaf-shaped implements 

 in some of their forms, the author has said 

 they seem to have belonged to both periods, 

 and so their discovery, unsupported by as- 

 sociated objects, is not evidence as to either 

 period. He trusts he has explained the dif- 

 ferences between these implements, the 



thick and the thin — that though from the side view they have great 

 resemblance, yet are really widely separated in culture, time, and 

 art — and he hopes the reader will not confound them. 



CLASS A. -POINTED AT 150TH ENDS. (Plate 28.) 



^^oa54) 



Fig. 86. 

 YELLOW CHERT. 

 Sliell-licap ou Tenue.ssee Kiver oppo- 

 site Savannah, Teuuessee. 

 Xol leaf-shaped (iu.sertiiil for compari- 

 son.) 3|xiaxJ. 



Cat. Nu. 9914; U.S.N. M. 



This class corresponds to the Solutreen type of the Paleolithic period 

 in France. It is i)ointed at both ends; it approaches the elliptical 

 and the oval, but is not regular in either form, for its greatest width 

 is about one-fourth to one-third the distance from the base to the 

 point. In France this is called " feuille de laurier" (laurel leaf). It 

 is symmetrical, quite thin, the edges and sides having been chipped 

 with great delicacy and fineness. According to botanical nomenclature 

 it approaches the lanceolate. The appearan(;e of this imj^leuient in 

 Europe during the Paleolithic period and its continuance into and 

 through the Neolithic ])eriod have been described on p. 828, and need 

 not be repeated. This implement and the convex scraper are common 

 to both periods, and are the two implements which belong equallj^ to the 

 Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. 



