382 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



arrowheads, or "bunts," were used to hit objects without pene- 

 trating them. Such bunts were often made of broken points reflaked. 



The arrow has ceased to play an important part in hunting or 

 warfare, the' bullet having superseded it. The bullet, however, is 

 the evolution of the arrowhead, its mission is the same, and the 

 principle which governs it is the same. Ancient as well as modern 

 man was aware that a small, heavy object, swiftly propelled, could 

 go where a larger one thrown by hand could not go, and that it 

 would do more damage. 



From the hand spear to the arrow, after the bow Was known, was 

 but a step ; then came the cross-bow and bolt ; then the rude musket 

 and bullet. The bullet, being heavier and propelled more swiftly, 

 needed no shaft, nevertheless it is but an arrowhead in another form. 



Choppers. In several New York localities, especially along the 

 coast, elongated or oval flat pebbles with one edge chipped are found. 

 The chipping is generally rough and may be on one or both sides of 

 the stone. These objects are thought to be rude hatchets or hand 

 choppers. On coastal sites they are usually made of quartz. Far- 

 ther inland they are found made from a variety of materials, such 

 as chert, limestone, compact slate, etc. 



Collections. See Specimens. 



Combs, antler. It has been stated that bone combs have no great 

 antiquity, yet three-toothed and four-toothed bone combs have been 

 found in several prehistoric Iroquois sites in New York. These 

 articles are comblike, in the sense of having long heavy teeth, but 

 they may have been hair or scalp lock ornaments rather than 

 instruments for straightening out strands of hair. The earlier types 

 are narrow and resemble coarse forks with long prongs and long 

 bases. The base may be plain, incised or decorated by fretwork in 

 the form of animals, birds or combinations. These early forms 

 have been found in sites at Pompey, Cazenovia and Watertown in 

 the Onondaga-Oneida area, at Richmond Mills in the Seneca area, 

 and at Ripley in the Erie area. They seem to have been in use just 

 before and immediately after the coming of Europeans. With the 

 opening of the colonial era combs became more elaborate. Steel 

 saws and knives made it possible to make more teeth and to carve 

 more figures on the base. The differences in technic and finish 

 between the combs of Richmond Mills and the Dann site at Honeoye 

 Falls, or that of Boughton Hill, point out the changes that came to 

 the Seneca through the introduction of steel tools. After the mid- 

 dle colonial period bone combs occur only rarely until with Sulli- 

 van's raid they became obsolete. (For illustrations, see plates 34, 



