V0 1889 U '] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 375 



is evident on first inspection and becomes more apparent the closer the 

 scrutiny. 



They differ in form and thickness; are differently manufactured; are 

 made of different material, and have a different appearance. The cut- 

 ting end of the implement is reversed, being at the broad end. 



The distinct type of implement called palaeoliths is not known to have 

 been used by the American Indian. The palaeoliths are not Indian axes, 

 nor hatchets, nor scrapers, nor knives, nor spear or arrow heads. Of 

 the thousands of Indian mounds, cemeteries, graves, or monuments of 

 whatever kind which have been explored, not one has ever yielded these 

 palaeolithic implements. In circular No. 36 from my office I propounded 

 the question whether palaeolithic implements were found in mounds, 

 tombs, or other ancient structures, or associated with other ancient im- 

 plements. In the hundreds of responses received from every part of the 

 Uuited States there is no affirmative answer. They may have been 

 found associated with other implements on the surface, but in Indian 

 mounds or graves never. 



Whether the particular piece chosen by the prehistoric workmen for 

 the manufacture of tbese implements was a rounded and smoothed peb- 

 ble or a rough block, his mode of procedure appears to have been the 

 same. He struck off the flakes by blows, probably with a hammer 

 stone. The fracture left a conchoid of percussion, locating the point of 

 blow with certainty. In many of the larger and ruder implements it 

 would appear as if the work was begun and the heavier flakes knocked 

 off by the aid of a punch, probably a stone punch, of which the marks 

 are at times visible, and by means of which the stroke could be con- 

 fined to a single spot (Fig. 2, Plate xx). In many cases the smaller 

 flakes have been struck from one side and then from the other until 

 the implement was brought to an edge. Not infrequently the edge 

 shows evidences of use, sometimes being battered rough and at other 

 times being worn smooth. None of them are polished, as were the 

 implements of the neolithic period. 



Palaeolithic man, whether of Europe or of New Jersey, employed for 

 his implements material which possessed certain qualifications. It was 

 necessary that it should be hard, that it might not break or crumble; 

 tough, that it might hold an edge; homogeneous, or at least approxi- 

 mately, so that it might be flaked in any direction ; and it was usually 

 of such substance as to break with a conchoidal fracture. 



The materials of the implements found in the District of Columbia 

 and throughout the United States possess in a surprising manner the 

 above requirements. They are usually quartz, quartzite, and argillite, 

 and for the most part were pebbles, frequently water-woru. 



On the other hand, the North American Indian and his prehistoric 

 ancestors of the neolithic period used all sorts of eruptive rocks for his 

 implements. He made many also out of clay, rocks, slate, shale, and 

 the like, any material serving him which would grind to a smooth sur- 



