ocr. 19,1923 WASHINGTON: ADZES OF EGYPT AND HAWAII 381 
used in the Tombs of the Kings and elsewhere as made of chert. 
““Siliceous limestone” would seem to be more appropriate than “‘sand- 
stone” because the Moqattam series is typically one of limestone 
and because of the presence of the foraminifera and the secondary 
character of the silica. 
Some particular features of the form of the Egyptian adzes are to 
be noted for comparison with those of Hawaii. There is a slight 
curvature of the whole tool, approximately that of the line of motion 
when in use. The proximal end has somewhat rounded edges and 
is of a size convenient to be grasped by the hand, as these implements 
were probably not attached to a wooden handle. The distal end is 
formed by a somewhat rounded cutting edge, with an angle of about 
70°, the under surface of this being convexly curved. The upper 
side of my specimen is smooth and curved, advantage having been 
taken of a natural rift in the rock, and the under side is very similar. 
The two lateral sides are rough, the stone having been pecked away 
with no attempt at a smooth finish except on the manual portion. 
The cutting edge of the specimen in the National Museum has an 
angle of about 60°, but this appears to have been broken before it 
was much used, whereas the cutting edges of my specimen and that | 
in New York show signs of considerable wear. 
Hawaiian stone adzes are well known and are to be found in many 
museums of anthropology. An excellent description of these tools, 
with many illustrations from the large collection in the Bernice 
Pauahi Bishop Museum at Honolulu, is given by Brigham. A 
specimen which was found near Kaneohe on the Island of Oahu, and 
which was given me in 1920, is shown in Figs. 4-6. It is fairly repre- 
sentative of these adzes, although they vary much in size and rather 
less in form. The Hawaiian adze was used for cutting wood, as in 
felling trees or making canoes and idols, and Brigham says that he 
has seen them in use as late as 1864. 
The material is a very dense and fine-grained, almost black basalt, 
not a phonolite as stated by Brigham (op. cit., p. 10), a rock which 
is not certainly known to occur on the islands and which is usually 
much lighter in color than any of the adzes that I have seen either 
in the Bishop Museum or the National Museum. There are very 
few quarries of appropriate material, Brigham stating that the num- 
ber “hardly exceeded half-a-dozen.” ‘Two well-known ones are on 
> BricHam, W. T., Ancient Hawaiian stone implements, Mem. Bishop Mus. 1, no. 
4:73-83, figs. 74-79, pls. 53-57. 1902. 
