Z INTRODUCTION. 



which they are made. This mode of classification, as stated, could not be 

 applied to the relics composing what is called the areha ological scries, con 

 sidering that the latter embraces a large number of specimens, and even 

 classes of typical objects, to which it would be hazardous to assign a definite 

 use; and this uncertainty attaches even to such common relics of the abo 

 rigines as have hitherto been thought to represent well-recognized types. 

 Collectors, for instance, are very ready to class chipped stone articles of cer 

 tain forms occurring throughout the United States as arrow and lance-heads, 

 without thinking that many of these specimens may have been quite differ 

 ently employed by the aborigines. Thus the Pai-Utes of Southern Utah use 

 to this day chipped flint blades, identical in shape with those that are usually 

 called arrow and spear-points, as knives, fastening them in short Avooden 

 handles by means of a black resinous substance. Quite a number of these 

 hafted flint knives (Fig. 1) have been deposited in the collection 

 of the Xational Museum by Major J. W. Powell, who obtained them 

 during his sojourn among the Pai-Utes. The writer was informed 

 by Major Powell that these people use their stone knives with great 

 effect, especially in ciitting leather. On the other hand, the stone- 

 tipped arrows still made by various Indian tribes are mostly pro 

 vided with small slender points, generally less than an inch in length, 

 and seldom exceeding an inch and a half, as exemplified by many 

 specimens of modern arrows in the Smithsonian collection. If these 

 facts be deemed conclusive, it would follow that the real Indian arrow 

 head was comparatively small, and that the larger specimens classed 

 as arrow-heads, and not a few of the so-called spear-points, were 



Flint Knife 



n wooden originally set in handles and were used as knives and daggers. In 

 )- many cases, further, it is impossible to determine the real character 

 of small leaf-shaped or triangular objects of chipped flint, which may have 

 served as arrow-heads or either as scrapers or cutting tools, in which the 

 convex or straight base formed the working edge. Certain chipped spear 

 head-shaped specimens with a sharp straight or slightly convex base may 

 have been cutting implements or chisels. Arrow-heads of a slender elongated 

 form pass over almost imperceptibly into perforators, insomuch that it is often 

 impossible to make a distinction between them. Among the implements, 

 weapons, etc., that have been brought into shape by pecking or grinding 

 there are many types of unmistakable character, such as axes, adzes, mauls, 

 mortars, pestles, pipes, etc.; yet here, too, not a few classes of objects are 

 met to which a definite use cannot be ascribed. Among the latter are 

 disc-shaped stones, pierced tablets, tubes, rings, pendants, and various other 



