20 PERFORATED STONES 



of the California tribes were acquainted with the art of spinning. On 

 the contrary, the Jesuit Fathers found them ignorant of the art, and 

 themselves introduced it. 



Club heads. — Archseologic literature contains so many references to 

 the employment of perforated stones as elubheads in various parts ot 

 the world and the stones themselves are so widespread that it might be 

 inferred naturally that abundant and convincing evidence of their em- 

 ployment as weapons would be found, if they really served as such. 

 This appears to be far from the case. Jn fact, nearly all the statements 

 relative to their use as weapons appear to have been based on the char- 

 acter of the stones themselves and their supposed adaptability to the 

 function assigned, and not to their observed use. The difficulty of ar- 

 riving at a correct idea of the former function of these supposed club 

 heads is increased by the fact that by far the greater number of speci- 

 mens have been taken from graves, and their handles, if they ever had 

 any, have long since disappeared. The small size of many specimens 

 of perforated stones and the soft and pliable nature of the material of 

 which they are composed at once remove them from the category of 

 elubheads. Others, as the pearshaped variety, like Fig. o, would seem 

 to answer the requirements of elubheads better, it would seem, how- 

 ever, as if a perforation of the requisite size would weaken the stone 

 too much for the rough service of a war club. A blow delivered by one 

 of these stone collared clubs on the head or the body of an adversary 

 would, indeed, be serious enough, but in action, if brought into collision 

 with another club, one or both of the perforated stones would be almost 

 certain to be shivered, rendering at least one weapon useless. A more 

 effective club is made by attaching a solid stone to a handle by means of 

 a rawhide band which encircles the stone in a groove pecked to receive 

 it, or by inclosing the stone in a bag of rawhide, a continuous strip of 

 which also frequently incloses and strengthens the handle. In both 

 cases the attachment to the handle is easy and permanent. Such clubs 

 have been in common use among the Shoshoni, Sioux, Apache, Eskimo, 

 and other of our tribes until very recently. It is certain, however, that 

 many of the clubs, or more properly hammers, of the character last de- 

 scribed, were not intended as weapons, or, as they are popularly known 

 and frequently described, " war clubs." Among the tribes of the Upper 

 Missouri many of these clubs were exclusively women's implements, 

 and were employed for driving tent pegs, breaking skulls to extract the 

 brains, breaking bones for the marrow, and for other culinary and do. 

 mestic purposes. Not infrequently they have been found on battle- 

 fields, where, especially when near villages, they have been used by 

 squaws to dispatch the wounded enemy, and probably it is due to the 

 latter circumstance, added to their apparent effectiveness as weapons, 

 that an erroneous conception of their real function has gained currency. 

 There is also a form of the " coup stick" of the Sioux tribes, which re- 

 sembles the above implement in all respects except size. A specimen 



