THE OREGON 
PRE-HISTORIC MAN IN THE 
DELA WARE VALLEY. 
The beautiful and picturesque valley of 
the Delaware was a favorite hunting 
ground of pre-historic man up to the dis- 
covery of America by Columbus. It is 
exceedingly rich in Indian Relics, and 
traces of primitive man. The village sites 
are generally situated in close proximity 
to springs of pure water and he2zdwaters 
of the numerous tributaries of the Dela- 
ware. The abundance of the weapons and 
the domestic implements of the aborigines 
suggests that each camp or tribe had skill- 
ed implement makers; that the various 
stone articles were the product of such who 
Were exclusively devoted to the business 
of making them. If we compare a suit of 
arrow-heads, axes, or knives from a given 
locality, with a similar series of implements 
from some remote section we will find 
eculiarities that characterize the two ser- 
ies. Studying the more numerous relics 
we observe frequent exhibitions of the imp- 
lement maker’s peculiar tastes, and, that 
widely different shapes of implements were 
employed for similar purposes. 
Most of the relics from this locality are 
surface finds, few mounds being known, 
although occasionally caches of unfinished 
implements, arrow-heads, and _ scrapers 
have been unearthed by Archzologists. 
The material employed by aboriginal man 
in the Delaware valley in making his imp- 
lements is usually jasper, chert, slate, 
quartz, quartzite and argillite (metamor- 
phosed slate with conchoidal fracture) and 
was obtained by splitting water-worn peb- 
bles, or from a series of quarries developed 
at outcroppings of minerals adapted to his 
use. 
Arrow-points are the most numerous of 
all relics, they vary greatly is size and 
shapes, many rare and curious specimens 
have been found by collectors. _Where a 
suitable mineral is found 7 sz/« they used 
NATURALIST. 87 
this mineral almost exclusively and thus 
arrow-heads of such mineral become a fea- 
ture of such a locality. 
Knives averaging from three to five inches 
in length are common the largest one 
known to have been found in this county 
(Bucks) measures nine and one fourth 
inches in length by two inches in width, it 
is beautifully flaked from yellow jasper. 
Ceits and skinning knives are numerous 
and localities known to have been sites of 
Indian villages are usually most abound- 
ing in this class of relics. 
HAMMERS. 
These are quite abundant on fields used 
by the aborigines as a workshop. They 
are oval shaped and some of them quite 
slender with a groove entirely around them. 
The pitted hammer is quite numerous The 
hammers are usually made of potsdam, 
sandstone or water worn pebbles. 
GROOVED STONE AXES. 
As arule these have a general similiarity 
although as far as we know no two have 
been found alike. They have the appear- 
ance of having been made of cobble-stones 
which abound in the bed of the Delaware 
river. In weight they average from five 
to ten pounds, although a few have been 
found weighing only several ounces. 
BANNER STONES. 
The variety of forms in this class of rel- 
ics is very great. The stones bear evi- 
dence to the great patience possessed by 
those who manufactured them. Asa class, 
these stones are found scattered over the 
whole valley and mineralogically are prin- 
cipally made of fine grained sandstone, 
micaceous schist, stalactite, hornstone 
etc. They average from two to ten inches 
in length, are generally finely polished and 
usually have a hole drilled partly and 
sometimes quite through the specimen for 
suspensory purposes. Occasionally speci- 
mens are found that denote a rude attempt 
at animal sculpture. 
We will attempt to describe but one 
