204 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuU. 189 



forms mostly leaf -shaped (pi. 29, A, f), and (5) ribbon flakes (pi. 

 32,^). 



The four-edged roughly rectangular knives are made from elongated 

 fragments of vein chalcedony. Most are fragmentary. One out- 

 standing specimen (pi. 29, A, c) has a curved blade that is not rare 

 but does occur less regularly than the straight-edged forms. The 

 finished form was undoubtedly influenced by the peculiar nature of the 

 material, for this vein chalcedony occurs as flat, thin slabs. A service- 

 able knife could easily be manufactured by simply selecting a frag- 

 ment of the proper size and retouching the desired edges to form a 

 cutting edge. Some knives have only one cutting edge along the long 

 side of the artifact. Others not only have this one cuttmg edge but 

 the opposing edge sharpened, while others have all four edges chipped 

 to a double bevel. Those with only a single cutting edge may have 

 been haf ted, or, when large enough, held in the unaided hand and 

 used without a handle. 



Also present were several thin-bladed forms in which the chalcedony 

 was cliipped so that the original cortex no longer remained (pi. 29, A, 

 e). Cutting edges are fairly sharp. Such artifacts when tapped with 

 a slight blow emit a ring almost metallic in somid. Knives like this are 

 much too thin and delicate to have been held in the unaided hand. 

 They must have been haf ted when originally used. 



The four-edged diamond-shaped variety is present but in no great 

 number. Not only are the cutting edges worked but so are the faces. 

 A form of quartzite and some chalcedony were used in the manu- 

 facture of such knives. In cross section they are lenticular. 



Bifaced forms are of several shapes but most of them are leaf- 

 shaped. 



Ribbon flake knives are well represented in the collection (pi. 32, J.). 

 Many show that they must have been struck from cores primarily as 

 temporary knives. Not a great deal of work was ever expended on 

 them. When they became too dull through use to function properly 

 they were soon abandoned. The dulled edge or edges bear small nicks 

 with very fine chips that were not the result of intentional chipping 

 but were brought about by using the flake as a cutting edge. 



Some of the ribbon flake knives were pressure chipped on only one 

 edge ; others were chipped on both of the long sides from both faces, 

 resulting in a double beveled effect. Those with only a single 

 chipped edge are hard to distinguish from side scrapers, for both were 

 fashioned by pressure chipping. Ribbon flake knives were made 

 from chalcedony, quartzite, jasper, and chert. Some of the smaller 

 knives are in the range of microblades and probably were hafted so 

 that several were used in a common artifact. 



