146  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
28  inches.  Cut  i8,  12  inches:  2"]  inches  (2)  ;  81  inches.  Cut  19.  12 
inches;  17  inches;  t^2  inches  (pi.  38,  fig.  5).  Cut  20,  12  inches  (3,  all 
of  bone)  ;  22  inches;  26  inches  (2,  both  bone).  Cut  2}^,  14  inches  (2)  ; 
18  inches.  Cut  24,  45  inches.  Cut  2"],  29  inches;  38  inches.  One 
handle  of  this  kind  was  found  at  the  Hillside  site. 
The  sockets  of  the  first  group  are  large  enough  to  have  held  stone 
blades,  but  those  of  the  second  group  are  so  small  that  they  must  have 
been  designed  for  metal  blades.  The  distribution  is  not  very  enlighten- 
ing ;  the  older,  southeastern  section  yielded  proportionately  more  of 
the  larger  socketed  type,  and  the  northwestern  section  more  of  the 
small  socketed  type ;  furthermore,  the  five  small  socketed  bone  handles 
from  cut  20  may  safely  be  regarded  as  the  most  recent  of  the  entire 
lot.  However,  the  distribution  as  a  whole  does  not  point  to  a  clear- 
cut  chronological  distinction  between  the  two  groups. 
Of  the  third  group,  those  with  rather  large  socket  with  distinct 
curve  at  lower  end,  there  are  seven  examples,  distributed  as  follows : 
Cut  4,  43  inches.  Cut  9,  36  inches.  Cut  19.  12  inches  (2)  ;  32  inches  ; 
56  inches.   Cut  20,  22  inches. 
It  will  be  observed  that  with  the  exception  of  the  specimen  from 
cut  9,  all  of  these  come  from  the  later,  northwestern  section  of  the 
midden.  One  of  the  handles  from  cut  19,  depth  12  inches,  has  the 
lower  end  of  the  socket  in  the  shape  of  a  T ;  in  the  others,  the  lower 
end  is  curved.  The  purpose  of  such  sockets  is  to  hold  a  curved  tang 
in  place,  and  this  would  seem  to  indicate  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  blade 
was  of  metal. 
Tvfc  2  (pi.  38,  fig.  8). — Heavy,  around  15  cm  long;  a  deep,  rect- 
angular, open  socket  at  the  end.  in  which  the  blade  was  held  by  means 
of  a  plug ;  opposite  side  cut  down  or  roughened  for  lashing.  Socket 
around  30  mm  long,  8  to  12  mm  wide,  and  6  mm  deep. 
Two  examples:  cut  19,  46  inches  and  "J}^  inches  (the  latter  shown 
on  pi.  38,  fig.  8).  Both  have  the  lower  end  perforated  for  a  suspension 
thong. 
T\pc  J  ( pi.  38.  figs.  9.  10). — Ten  to  12  cm  long  ;  a  narrow,  rectangu- 
lar, enclosed  blade  socket  at  one  or  both  ends. 
Three  examples,  all  of  bone:  Cut  18.  48  inches  (pi.  i^,  fig.  10). 
Cut  19,  79  inches.   Cut  25,  ']2  inches  (pi.  38,  fig.  9). 
The  last  mentioned  has  a  blade  socket  at  the  end  14  mm  long,  3  mm 
wide,  and  13  mm  deep;  at  the  lower  end  is  a  narrow  slot  for  a  sus- 
pension thong.  The  handle  from  cut  18  has  a  narrow,  rectangular 
blade  socket  in  each  end,  one  7  and  one  10  mm  deep.  These  three 
handles  were  found  at  considerable  depths,  indicating  that  the  type 
is  an  old  one. 
