74 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Unfinished articles often awaken curiosity, and sometimes reveal 

 the processes by which they were made, and the several stages of 

 the work. This is notably the case with some celts, and unfinished 

 drilling has even yet greater importance. With articles of flint it is 

 more a question of ultimate intention. Fig. 206 is an odd article, 

 which may have been a completed and broken implement, or an un- 

 finished one, just as well. What we call the lower part has been 

 broken, giving an element of uncertainty to the actual or intended 

 form. As it now is, it is two and three eighths inches in length, and 

 is made of common hornstone. One side is flat, and the other neatly 

 chipped over most of the surface, the concave edge being thickest. 

 This might be classed among implements combining the knife and 

 scraper, for the convex edge is sharp. There are hints, also, of a 

 future modification of the form. The striking peculiarity, however, 

 is the rounded point, deeply indented below, as if for suspension. 

 Fragments like this and the last, are often valuable for their peculiar 

 features. 1 



Fig. 207 is a small curved scraper of common flint, about one and 

 one half inches long, which is from Cayuga county. It differs from 

 those already described in having simply an expanded base, without 

 a tang. The curve is greater than usual, and it has been accepted by 

 some as the flint point of an early fish-hook, for which it might have 

 answered, though it seems too short and thick for such a use. On 

 the whole it seems more reasonable to place it among the curved 

 scrapers, for grave objections might be made to the other use, and it 

 certainly closely resembles these. 



Fig. 208 is simply a flint pebble of an oval form, split in two and 

 chipped on the flat surface. These pebbles are water-worn, and not 

 very large, although this is one of the smaller sizes. They seem unfin- 

 ished, although neatly chipped; and in their present condition would 

 serve only for scrapers. This one is from Seneca county, and they 

 are found there and elsewhere, although nowhere frequent. 



Fig. 209 is one of the smallest forms of New York arrows, of the 

 class called bird points. It is less than half an inch long, and comes 

 from Tioga county, where they are frequent, but with various out- 

 lines. Many think these were made for children, on account of their 

 small size, but they are quite as likely to have had other uses. 



