THE ARCHEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NEW YORK 375 



Chalcedony. This mineralogical term embraces most of the varie- 

 ties of tough, siliceous rock used for making chipped implements 

 and includes flint chert, hornstone, jasper, agate, novaculite in part, 

 onyx and carnelian. As a rule the terms employed by archeologists 

 differ from those used by mineralogists, due to the necessity of 

 describing certain forms of minerals found in implements. With 

 archeologists, chalcedony is a light yellowish or cream-colored trans- 

 lucent variety of siliceous rock having a hornlike luster. It is sim- 

 ilar to the archeologist's jasper but not of the same color. The 

 mineralogist, however, will insist on another description. Chalcedony 

 is formed by the infiltration of siliceous substances from fossil-bear- 

 ing rocks, into dikes or cracks in the older rocks, or it may occur in 

 nodules or layers in sedimentary rocks. The material found at Flint 

 Ridge, Ohio, and used in the making of innumerable implements by 

 the aborigines of that region, is called by archeologists chalcedony. 



Chert. A variety of flint or chalcedony (q.v.), much used for 

 making chipped implements. (See Flint.) 



Chipped Stone Implements, Method of Manufacture. The most 

 numerous articles in any considerable archeological collection, in our 

 region at least, are those of chipped stone, popularly termed flint 

 implements. Many of these implements are worthy of study and 

 description. 



To the uninformed a gracefully shaped and delicately chipped 

 Indian arrowhead represents the product of a wonderful lost art. 

 It seems almost impossible that the beautiful specimen could have 

 been made by an Indian possessing only rude means of making any- 

 thing. It is an erroneous idea, however, to suppose that the Ameri- 

 can who centuries ago made such an arrowhead was untutored or 

 ignorant of the best possible tools needed for flint chipping. In 

 many instances with the tools which we call rude he produced a 

 better, finer specimen of stone chipping than could a modern lapidary 

 with all his modern appliances. 



Some hard-cutting material is a necessary adjunct to the progress 

 of any people, primitive or enlightened. Since primitive man was 

 not acquainted with the use of metal, it is natural that he should 

 utilize stone, which was abundant everywhere. The use of sharp 

 pieces of naturally broken stone probably led him to break stones, 

 and using such pieces for cutting suggested other uses by modifying 

 the form. 



Early man in all probability used natural pebbles as throwing 

 weapons, and natural clubs of wood for striking. His use of pieces 



