NO. 10 SECOND REPORT ON FOLSOM COMPLEX ROBERTS 3I 



and an accompaniment of this phenomenon seems to be the sloughing 

 of the outer surface. The surface is frequently essential in the 

 identification of a fragment of bone as a tool. A number of chance 

 scraps in the collection could have served as implements, but because 

 the outer surface is gone, the polish acquired through use is missing, 

 and for that reason it can not be stated with assurance that they were 

 tools. Each of these specimens has a tapering, blunt-pointed end like 

 that on punches and awls. Their sides have been rubbed and the base 

 end is rounded, but because signs of usage are absent they cannot be 

 designated as such tools. There is no question but that the people used 

 bone implements, because the collection contains small fragments, pre- 

 served by having been charred in a fire, that exhibit the smooth and 

 highly polished surfaces characteristic of awls. The pieces are too 

 small, however, to give any clue as to the size and general shape of the 

 specimens. Two pieces cut from the shaft of a long bone, each with 

 one sharp, well-defined edge, would be serviceable as knives or fleshers. 

 As green bone they would have functioned efificiently either in skinning 

 or in scraping the fat and hair from a hide. The edges of both are 

 slightly discolored and show a trace of polish. Another object sug- 

 gests that it was the end of a paddlelike scoop. It also was cut from 

 the shaft of a long bone. 



The bone disk with ticked edges (pi. 9, c) has already been men- 

 tioned. This object was probably a marker or gaming die. It cannot 

 be considered as an ornament in the strict sense of the word, as there 

 is no perforation for suspension and no indication that it was attached 

 to any other substance. It seems to have been fashioned from a piece 

 of scapula or shoulder blade. Both faces are smooth, except for the 

 series of cut lines bordering the circumference. This specimen and 

 approximately half of one similar to it obtained by the Denver Museum 

 party are the best examples of worked bone found at the Lindenmeier 

 site. The disk measures 34 by 28 mm, and is 2 mm thick. 



The channel flakes form an interesting series because they demon- 

 strate so impressively the consummate skill of the men who struck 

 them off from the sides of the points. The flakes are smooth on one 

 side, the one that formed the groove in the face of the point, and 

 flaked on the other. Some are paper-thin; others are as much as 

 2 mm thick. One good example from a white chalcedony point is 

 45 mm long, 13 mm wide, and i mm thick. It is unquestionably the 

 complete spall from the channel. One piece of channel flake fits into 

 the groove on one of the butt ends recovered from the site. This is the 

 only example of the flake and the point thus far obtained. Many of 

 the channel flakes were discarded when removed, but others, as men- 



