ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, AND KNIVES. 



927 







That this form was somewhat a matter of taste, and uot always for the 

 utilitarian ])arpose mentioned, is apparent upon a yhnice at this illus- 

 tration and the two following. In these tliree speeiniens the size of 

 the implement is so great and, eompared therewith, the barbs so smaH 

 that they are insigniticaut in actual utility. The thrusting of either 

 one of these large specimens into any 

 known ganu' or enemy would be suf- 

 ficient to kill the animal independent 

 of the use of the barbs or the with- 

 drawal of the weapon. It goes without 

 saying that these, and possibly one 

 other in this class, were too large for 

 any possible use as arrows, and per- 

 haps as knives, and if they had any 

 utilitarian purpose it could only have 

 been as a spearhead. It is a matter 

 for conjecture and investigation 

 whether they might not have served 

 for ceremonial purposes, or as some 

 insignia of authority or command, as 

 the stafl^'of a marshal, the scepter of a 

 monarch, or the mace in the House of 

 Representatives of Congress. 



Fig. 171 is one of these remarkable 

 implements. It is white or whitish 

 translucent chalcedony, impure to be 

 sure, but still fine enough with its 

 extraordinary size to make it a mag- 

 nificent implement. But for the barbs 

 it would be assigned to the leaf-shaped 

 Class B. Its edges are symmetrically 

 convex and, converging, form the 

 point. The notches forming the barbs 

 ha\e been made perpendicularly up- 

 ward from the base, and not, as usual, 

 horizontally from the edge. The 

 notches are half an inch wide and 

 three fourths of an inch deep; they 

 leave the barbs to be three-fourths of 

 an inch long, descending perpendicu- 

 larly almost even with the base. The 

 base is straight and square; the stem has parallel edges, is straight 

 and not pointed. The whitish chalcedony, the material of this si)eci- 

 men, is not rare in the locality in which this was found (Shreveport, 

 Louisiana), although the mine or (piarry from which the material comes 

 has, it is believed, never yet been found. The author is the owner of 



,,^v 



Fig. 171. 



.STEMMED .SPEARHEAD OK WHITISH CHALCE- 

 DONY, SHOULDERED AND BAUBED. 



Shreveport, Caddo County, Louisiana. 



Division III, Class C. 



9i X 3J X J. 



Cat. No. 10095, U.S.N. M. 



