RELICS OF THE STONE AGE IN NOVA SCOTIA—PIERS. 39 
mens which are not distinctly more convex on one side than on 
the other, possibly were inserted in clubs or used as hatchets. 
With a wooden mallet they could be used without a haft as 
wedges to split wood, which might sometimes be necessary ; but 
they could never be struck with a stone hammer as some sug- 
gest. The more common adze-like form, however, was well 
adapted for very many uses to which it might be put by savage 
man, such, for instance, as clearing away the charred wood in 
the process of forming various hollow vessels by the action of fire, 
cleaning fresh skins of adhering particles of flesh, and numerous 
other operations. Lescarbot mentions that the Armouchiquois 
(Indians inhabiting what is now called New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts), Virginians, and other tribes to the south, made 
wooden canoes by the aid of fire, the burnt part being scraped 
away “ with stones.” 
Thirty-eight of these so-called celts or adzes, either complete 
or fragmentary, are in the Fairbanks collection (Figs. 17-54), and 
nearly all show some indications of the adze-form to which I 
have drawn attention. This will be seen by reference to the 
side views of the implements shown in the accompanying plates. 
In size they vary from 4°50 to about 11°75 inches in length. All 
taper more or less toward the butt or end farthest from the 
edge. The latter is nearly always much rounded, producing a 
gouge-like cut, well suited to such uses as forming hollows in 
wood, dressing skins, ete. 
Two typical specimens may be selected in order to exemplify 
differences in form. The first (Fig. 17) which illustrates the 
broader form, measures nearly 7°50 inches in length and 3:25 in 
width near the cutting edge, thence tapering to 2:10 in width 
close to the butt, where it rounds off. The greatest thickness is 
1:60 inch. The implement has been intentionally formed some- 
what flatter on one side than on the other. This is quite notice- 
able. The flattened side is more polished than the other, 
probably from the friction of a baft. 
About eight or nine specimens resemble this form pretty 
closely, a few others less so (Figs. 17 to 30). One (Fig. 25) is 
