ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MISSOURI 53 



Scrapers were present in considerable numbers. Though varying 

 ■widely in details of form and in size, all are characterized by a plane 

 or very slightly curved undersurface, an elongate subelliptical or 

 ovate outline, a more or less pronounced keel or dorsal ridge, and one 

 or two abruptly retouched edges. Maximum thickness may occur at 

 almost any point along the midline. In nearly all specimens the 

 ^'snub nose" end shows most evidence of use, and often it is worn to 

 a smooth or even polished face. A few scrapers, especially some of 

 the smaller ones, approach the familiar "thumb-nail" or small plano- 

 convex type of the plains, but as a whole the present series forms a 

 much more varied group than do the scrapers from, say, the Leary 

 site or those from the protohistoric PaAvnee sites on the Loup River 

 in Nebraska. 



On the basis of size, scrapers may be divided roughly into two 

 groups. Forty-eight specimens are small to medium, i. e., range in 

 length from 32 to approximately 75 mm., in width from 22 to 47 

 mm., and in thickness from 8 to 23 mm. The maximum thickness is 

 usually within 1 or 2 cm. of the scraping end, whence the implement 

 tapers to a thin butt. A representative series is shown in plate 13, j-s. 

 Large scrapers, 36 in number, are shaped and finished with less care 

 and uniformity (pi. 13, a-j). Some are long, thick, and compara- 

 tively narrow; others are short and massive; a few are nearly circular 

 (pi. 13, e). Occasional specimens have two working ends, not always 

 in the same plane (pi. 13, c). Broken specimeiis are comparatively 

 common, suggesting that these implements may have been designed 

 for heavy duty. They vary in length from 75 to 103 mm., in width 

 from 37 to 68 mm., and in thickness from 16 (rarely) or 20 to 30 mm. 



Much rarer than the foregoing are stemmed scrapers, of which 7 

 whole and broken examples occur. Typical specimens are shown in 

 plate 14, l-^. All have a wide heavy stem with convex base. The 

 cross section at the stem is double convex or lens-shaped, but the 

 working end is generally planoconvex and curved. The bkmt end 

 in one or two cases shows the same sort of polish from use as do the 

 end scrapers described above. It is possible that broken projectile 

 points were occasionally "dubbed off" thus and secondarily used as 

 scrapers, but the planoconvex working edge is not such as would 

 ordinarily be produced from an arrowpoint. That they were intend- 

 ed for use in stunning game is also possible, but such a function would 

 not have required a planoconvex edge. Mounted on handles of wood 

 or bone, they would have been highly serviceable in working down 

 hides — certainly as effective and convenient as the more abundant 

 type of end scraper. 



Stone drill points are of several types, but the rarity of whole spec- 

 imens m.akes it difficult to appraise the relative importance of each. 

 Commonest are straight-shafted specimens 40 to 94 mm. long, rounded 



