AKJmWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, AND KNIVES. 913 



with sliarp, isniooth point and edges. These appear mostly on the 

 Athmtic coast. 



Fig-. 130 is one of those elegant and niinnte arrowpoints which have 

 made Oregon renowned in the world of archa-ology. It is dark-brown 

 jasper, is triangnlar in form, with long, tapering point. Its edges are 

 very slightly concave, but the base is so deeply concave that the 

 corners form long, slender barbs. Other specimens from the same 

 locality have notches on the edges near the base, by meansof wdiicli the 

 sinew or cord fastens the head to its shaft, but this, and indeed none of 

 the triaugulars, have any such contrivance. 



Fig. 137 is one of the triangular forms from Massachusetts. It is 

 rude and irregular on edges and base. 



Fig. 138, although with an elongated point, yet is to be classed as tri- 

 angular. It is a marvel of tiint chipping. Four and a quarter inches 

 long and 1^ inches wide, it is nowhere more than one-eighth of an inch 

 in thickness. This is as thin as any si)ecimen can be expected. The 

 base of this si)ecimen is slightly convex; the edges are nearly straight. 

 They and the point are fine and sharp. 



Some of the specimens from the Pacific coast, tigured in leaf-shaped. 

 Class C, are as thin as this, but, as described, this was their natural 

 thickness. They were separated from each other by a deposit of extra- 

 neous matter. This specimen is not of such formation. It has been 

 wrought out of a solid block of flint, and was effected by those broad 

 and thin flakes so often found, running from the edge, the point of pres- 

 sure, to the center, widening into the form of a shell, and reducing the 

 thickness of the imidement almost as much at the center as at the edge. 

 This system is the perfection of flint chipping. It shows a high degree 

 of manual dexterity, and is one of the lost arts, for no workman 

 known in historic times has been able to reproduce it. 



DIVISION III— STEMMED. 



The author has not made this class dependent upon the lines of 

 the edges or bases of these implements; thoy may be either convex, 

 straight, or concave, and neither of these will have any eflect as to 

 which class the implement is to be assigned. He has considered that 

 it made but slight difference to the prinutive hunter or w^arrior when 

 about to use one of these implements, either as an arrowi)oint, spear- 

 head, or as a knife, whether it should be convex, straight, or con- 

 cave, provided the point was sharp and the cutting edge keen and 

 smooth. If to be used for piercing, the desideratum was a sharp point, 

 the shape of the edge had no effect and was of no interest, and if 

 as a knife and the edges to be used saw fashion, back and forth, it 

 made little difference whether that edge should be concave, straight, 

 or convex. xVs all stemmed implements presuppose a handle or shaft 

 which incloses the stem, it makes e([ually slight difference whetiier 

 the base of that stem should be concave, straight, or convex; there- 



NAT MUS 07 58 



