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AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



to have been used by the Iroquois to 

 the north and west of this area either 

 in early or later times. The wooden 

 pestle of dumb-bell shape seems to 

 have been preferred by them. The 

 latter is used by the Canadian Dela- 

 ware and may have taken the place of 

 the long stone pestle to a great extent 

 in this region. 



Mutters, Grinders, and Polishing 

 Stones. These are frequent, and consist 

 merely of rounded pebbles, shaped and 

 worn by use, probably most often in 

 crushing corn. They are mentioned by 

 De Vries as being used by the Indians 

 with a flat stone slab for grinding corn 

 when traveling. Some seem to have 

 been used for polishing stone imple- 

 ments, but it seems hard to draw the 

 line, as the appearance gained from 

 friction would be quite similar. Such 

 mullers and their attendant slabs, 

 used for preparing corn meal have 

 within a few years been collected in 

 use among the Oneida Iroquois of New 

 York, one specimen being in the Ameri- 

 can Museum collection. 



Sinew Stones. These are pebbles 

 showing grooves along the edges, 

 popularly supposed to have been worn 

 there by rubbing thongs and sinews 

 across the edges to shape them. They 

 occur generally, but are not common. 



Stone Mortars. These are common, 

 but rather local, some sites having none 

 at all, and others a good many. One 

 locality on Staten Island is notable for 

 the numbers found there, whereas they 

 are rare elsewhere in that vicinity. 

 They may be divided into the following 

 types: 



1 . Portable mortar, hole on one 

 side. 



2. Portable mortar, hole on both 

 sides (New Jersey type). 



3. Portable slab mortar or metate, 

 used on one or both sides. 



4. Boulder mortar, one or more 

 holes, immovable. 



The first two types are the most 

 abundant, the third is not uncommon, 

 but the fourth is very rare, only one or 

 two being reported. As above stated, 

 De Vries claims that the portable 

 mortars were used in bread-making 

 while the Indians were traveling, but 

 certainly the majority of those found 

 are far too heavy for this purpose. 



Pigments and Paint Cups. Frag- 

 ments of pigments such as graphite 

 and limonite, showing the marks of 

 scratching with scrapers, are found, 

 which have apparently supplied the 

 material for painting. Worked geodes 

 are common on many sites. These 

 show traces of chipping in some in- 

 stances and may have been paint cups. 

 There is a tiny pestle-shaped pebble in 

 the Museum collection from West- 

 chester County, which is said to have 

 been found with a geode of this type. 

 The popular theory is that such geodes 

 were used as "paint cups" and this 

 seems probable. 



Stone Plummets. These are very 

 rare, in contrast to their abundance in 

 the New England region. They consist 

 usually of small worked egg-shaped 

 stones, grooved at one end, probably 

 for suspension. The writer has seen 

 but one from this area. Their use is 

 problematic. 



Semilunar Knives. Knives of rubbed 

 slate, similar in appearance to the ulu, 

 or woman's knife of the Eskimo, are 

 found, though rarely, in this region. 

 While sometimes ascribed to Eskimo 

 influence or contact, it is possible that 

 this form (which occurs throughout New 

 England), judging by its distribution, 



