10 



PERFORATED STONES 



Fie. 5. Perforated stono with groove 

 around perforation, Southern Cali- 

 fornia. 



thus deeply worn, and by mounting one on .1 proper stick it fitted nicely to the grasped 

 baud. I also noticed a specimeu, among the nmny sent to tbe Peabody Museum, in 

 which the hole had been enlarged in full width but in one direction only — making 

 an elliptic hole— worn by the digging stick while worked, when its own weight could 

 only act against the sides of the stick corresponding to the flattened ends of the 

 wooden spade. 



As further confirmation of the above view of the function of many 



of the perforated stones, derived from a 

 study of specimens, it is to he particularly 

 noticed that many of them have grooves 

 worn around the perforations, which 

 grooves appear on one side only, and this 

 the polished side (Fig. 5). 



The polish and wear on one side of the 

 stone collar are undoubtedly to be attrib- 

 uted, as suggested by Mr. Schumacher, to the fact that in use the 

 weight rests upon the closed hand. Perhaps, indeed, in many cases 



the left hand, grasping the stick 



about the middle, served as the 



only check to the weight, and 



kept it from slipping farther 



down. This supposition would 



explain my inability to obtain 



from any of the Indians a clear 



idea of the supposed method of 



permanently retaining the collar 



in its proper place near the mid- 

 dle of the stick. But in the 



specimens above referred to the 



grooves around the perforations 



require another explanation. 



Their origin, perhaps, may best 



be accounted for on the sup- 

 position that the stone collar 



rested on a natural knob or on 



an artificial protuberance, as, 



for example, a knot of rawhide 



or rope secured to the stick by 



the use of asphaltum. This sup- 

 posed method is represented in 



Figs. G and 7. Even if the weight 



rested neither upon a natural 



knob nor upon an artificial pro- 

 tuberance, a ledge or collar would soon be formed around the stick as 

 the weight slipped and fell home at each blow, if, as is probable, the 

 stick tapered from the top or handle end to the middle, where it was 

 adjusted to the size of the hole 



Fig. 0. Supposed method 

 of adjusting weight to 

 dinging stick. 



Fio. 7. Supposed method 

 of adjusting -» eight to 

 digging .stick. 



