pip. K' 2^3T McNARY RESERVOIR — SHINER 177 



a row of tiny flake scars, the result of having been used. The scrapers 

 that had been prepared before use, on the other hand, showed larger 

 and longer flakes, as well as some intentional shaping. Altogether, 

 only 6 of the 27 scrapers appeared to have been prepared for use. 

 Size and shape seemed to make little difference to the inhabitants 

 of the site, and the materials used were those available in the river 

 gravel. 



Tools used for hammering and chopping were made from river- worn 

 cobbles, for the most part (pi. 33, b). The hammers (5 specimens) 

 were unaltered cobbles that showed the scars and abrasions of use 

 but no intentional shaping. The chopping tools can be divided into 

 three types. One of these (13 specimens) was the ovoid river cobble 

 from which 5 to 15 large flakes had been struck. It produced a ragged 

 but effective cutting edge. Another type (5 specimens) was a heavy 

 spall struck from a river- worn cobble and crudely chipped to a cutting 

 edge. A third type (4 specimens) was made from an exfoliated basalt 

 slab which had a wedge-shaped cross section. 



Characteristically, all of the heavy tools left something to be desired 

 in both the selection of stones and in the chipping. The cobbles were 

 seldom symmetrical and would seem to fit the hand poorly. The chip- 

 ping was crude, for the flakes removed were fewer and larger than 

 would be characteristic of later workmanship. This does not mean 

 that each hammer and chopper in the McNary region can be assigend 

 readily to a pre- or post-ash date by inspection, but, as a group, those 

 tools from beneath the volcanic ash are distinguished by their crudeness. 



A total of seven bone artifacts came from beneath tlie volcanic ash. 

 Two of these were slender splinters, probably from a deer long bone, 

 that showed some wear and polish at the point and along the shaft 

 (pi. 33, a). Little or no effort had been expended in improving their 

 appearance or utility. Two beads of bone had been fashioned from 

 bird tibia (pi. 33, a). One was just under 2 cm. long and 7 mm. in 

 diameter. The other was 3.5 cm. long and 4 mm. in diameter. Both 

 had been decorated by incising a few transverse lines on the surface. 

 Two small sections, broken out of the shaft of a deer long bone, had 

 been incised with deep parallel lines. The complete artifact type 

 is not known but must have been ornamental. A final piece of bone 

 is not actually an artifact but a residual fragment. A section of long 

 bone had been deeply grooved and snapped off. What was recovered 

 was the waste of the making of some unknown artifact. 



The simplicity of the bone tools and ornaments seems to agree 

 with that of the other artifacts at the Hat Creek site. Only the pro- 

 jectile points are really objects of craftmanship. It appears that, 

 except for projectile points, almost no effort at all was made to improve 

 or finish an artifact. 



