RELICS OF THE STONE AGE IN NOVA SCOTIA PIERS. 39 



rnens 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 4'5() to about 1175 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, etc. 



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 

 <;lose 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 haft. 



About eight or nine specimens resemble this form pretty 

 closely, a few others less so (Figs. 17 to 30). One (Fig. 25) is 



