356 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the form of a punch, scoop scraper or may be notched or per- 

 forated. 



It would be idle to assert that awls w>ere used solely for perforat- 

 ing skin or bark. Some may have been arrow points, some food 

 sticks, some shuttles, some pegs for holding pieces of wood together 

 or for driving into posts, some may have been piercing tools for 

 punching holes in the nose or ears, some may have been spikes used 

 on war clubs, and some used for corn huskers. The awl w,?s 

 probably used for every one of these purposes and others where a 

 piercing instrument was required. 



Awls are found made from bone, antler and walrus ivory. Those 

 of ivory have been found in Jefferson county, particularly on early 

 Algonkian and Eskimoan sites. Some are engraved. 



Bone awls found in American Indian sites are similar to those 

 found in the kitchen middens of England, Denmark, Belgium, 

 France and Switzerland. The aborigines of each continent saw in 

 bone a convenient material for tools, especially piercing instruments. 



In New York bone awls have been found in refuse heaps, in shell 

 heaps and in graves. When found in ash deposits the action of the 

 ashes has been preservative and has kept the original high polish of 

 the surface. 



Collectors should use care not to feel the end of awls for fear of 

 breaking them, and when placed in the cabinet they should be laid 

 on some soft material, such as felt or sheet cotton. Never glue the 

 specimen to a mount. 



Axes. See grooved axes. Axes are cutting blades of stone (or 

 very rarely of native copper) designed to be mounted on a handle. 

 There are two general forms, the grooved axe and the ungrooved axe 

 or hatchet. 



Balls. Stone balls seem to have been originally massive hammers 

 that had been battered into spherical shape. Many such are found 

 in the upper Genesee valley. A peculiar form of stone ball found, 

 so far as wfe have evidence, in the valley of the upper Hudson, is that 

 having small opposed pits, as if to facilitate grasping between the 

 thumb and forefinger. It is quite possible that some of these stone 

 balls were used in playing games either on smooth ground or upon 

 the ice. 



Banner stones. The term banner stone is applied to a certain class 

 of perforated (or notched and grooved) objects having a wing 

 of hornlike extension from a grooved or perforated midrib. 

 Finished forms are highly polished and show few if any signs of 



