924 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897. 



Fig. 168, instead of beiiii? leaf-shaped as have been some of the fore- 

 going:, was a triaiifiular anow-poiut. Its edges are straight, and, ap- 

 ])roa('liing each otlier, form the i)oint at an acute angle. The base is 

 straight and square, but one-fourth of an inch above it toward the 

 l)oint are two notches, one on each side, about one-fourth of an inch 

 each way, which transform it from a triangular into 

 a stemmed arrowpoint. 



Fig. 109, while belonging to the same class, has the 

 peculiarity of three notches on the edges instead of 

 one, as in all former illustrations. It is much larger 

 than any of the others, its edges are straight, or 

 nearly so, and, but for the notches whicli transform 

 it into a stemmed implement, it would be nearly a 

 triangnlar one. The base is straight and at right 

 angles with the median line, the notches are about 

 one fourth of an inch each way and separated from 

 each other about one fourth of an inch. It would 

 appear as though they might have been employed 

 for three ligatures, or lor ligature in three jjlaces, 

 the farthest of which would be about 1 J inches from 

 the base, tlioreby giving the handle that much more 

 firmness and solidity in its attachment. 



A type of arrowpoint belonging to this class has 

 been found and identified by Dr. Abbott, with such 

 l)eculiarities as demanded at his hands a separate 

 and extended notice, which he gave in Primitive In- 

 dustry.' An illustration of this implement is shown 

 in Plate 34, fig. 7. Dr. Abbott believes in the exis- 

 tence in America, and especially on the Delaware 

 Eiver (the valley of the Delaware), of a Paleolithic 

 civilization which, of course, antedated that of the 

 Neolithic or American Indian civilization. All, or 

 nearly all, the Paleolithic implements found in the 

 glacial gravel Of tlie Delaware River at Trenton, New 

 Jersey, have been of argillite. It is his belief that this 

 material was used principally by Paleolithic man. The specimens un- 

 der consideration are of argillite and much weathered, showing a high 

 antiquity. They are now a light gray color, but originally and on the 

 inside are coal-black. The stone of which they are made is hard, and 

 they could be chipped to a sharp i)oint and edge. Their chipping has 

 been rude and the flakes comparatively large. They are long ami 

 narrow, their edges nearly straight, approaching until they form a 

 point. The shoulders were nearly square, not barbed, the stem short, 

 edges parallel, and base straight and square. Altogether it is rude 

 and unattractive, but in its original condition of sharp point and 



Fig. 169. 



STEMMED ARUOWPOINT 

 OF nUOWN FLINT, 

 SIIOULDERKD lUJT NOT 

 HAKBED. 



Dennysvillc, Washing- 

 ton County, Maine. 

 Division III, Class B. 

 6ixljx^g. 



Cat. No. 7007, iJ.S.N.M. 



See also Popular Science Monthly, XXII, 1883, p. 315. 



