ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, AND KNIVES. 



943 



series of these curious forms. The latter is takeu from the author's 

 paper on Prehistoric Art/ where it is thus introduced: 



It has bceu remarked many times tlironghout this paper that tlie prehistoric 

 artist possessed sufticieut confidence in his ability, and disi)hiyed such control 

 over his tools and materials as enabled him to make any- 

 thing out of Hint that his fancy might dictate; he did not 

 confine himself to utilitarian objects, but was an artist in 

 the true sense of the word; that is to say, he dealt with 

 art for arfs sake, for the sake of making something which 

 should be beautiful and whoso only ])urpose, according to 

 the canon of art laid down by Sir John Collier, would be 

 to please his eye and to gratify his taste. The prehistoric 

 artist in tlint obtained, in some way, we know not how, 

 possibly by stxidy and contemplation, possibly by education, 

 possibly by accident, an ideal which he re])roduced in flint. 

 Plate 29 [Plate 40] represents twenty objects taken at hazard 

 from the interior of the I'nited States, principally from the 

 Ohio and Mississippi valleys, all of flint, in curious and rare 

 forms, believed to be entirely without utility and solely to 

 gratify an artistic desire. None of them are arrow or spear 

 heads, and none of them appear to have been made for any 

 service. They are the work of a master who, conscious of his 

 ability, is playing with his art. One rejiresents a bird, one a 

 snake, one an outstretched beaver-skin, two of them, by stretch 

 of the imagination, might represent four-footed animals; the 

 rest have no likeness to any known object. All of them are 

 worked from flint or some similar stone; one is of obsidian; 

 they are represented abont natural size. This series shows 

 what the prehistoric artist in flint was able to do in the 

 management and control of his tools and materials in making 

 fanciful objects. 



J 



These curious forms are not peculiar to the United 

 States. They are found in England,^ and have also 

 been found scattered through France, Switzerland, and 

 Italy, though rarely. 



Fig. 191 is one of the peculiar forms restricted in 

 number and locality. Its restri(;tions in botli these 

 regards are so close that the author has not deemed 

 it necessary to assign it a class or give it a name. 

 These forms are confined to Scandinavia, and are 

 extremely rare even in that country. The specimen 

 figured is from Sweden, was procured by the author, 

 and forms part of the collection in the U. S. National 

 iNInseum. It is an arrowpoint of bone, sharpened 

 to a fine point, is extremely hard and stiff, and 

 could pierce equal to any flint weapon. Either 

 side is opened with a deep and narrow groove into wh.ich have 

 been inserted tiny bits of flint flakes, with sharp cutting edges, fas- 



Fig. 191. 



ARROWPOINT OF BONE, 

 WITH NARROW 

 GROOVES ON EACH 

 SIDE AND SHARP 

 FLINT FLAKES FAS- 

 TENED WITH BITU- 

 MEN ORG I'M. 



Sweden. 



Cat. No. 101637, U.S.N.M. 

 Natural size. 



'Page 437, pi. 21. 



-Sir John Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, pp. 350, 351, figs. 336-339. 



