Riv. Bas, Suk. Ee 
Bas, No. 27] STAR VILLAGE—METCALF EU 
burial not only make it impossible to determine the extent of decora- 
tion but also obscure the method and pattern. Apparently a half or 
two-thirds of the length of the blade was originally engraved with an 
arabesque design of flowers and foliage. Traces of gilding which 
still remain suggest that the engraving was once inlaid with gold leaf. 
Harold L. Peterson, Staff Historian, National Park Service, who 
examined this object believes it to be of French origin. This type of 
decoration was very popular from about 1800 to 1840, and large 
numbers of knives, daggers, and rapiers with blued steel blades and 
gold-foil inlaid engraving were made in France during that period. 
He suggests a date of between 1805 and 1820 for the dagger, admitting 
that it could be as late as 1840. 
A fragment of a very different knife came from Feature 5. This 
is the handle end of a common butcher knife. Enough wood still 
remains to show that the handle was originally about 11.0 cm. in 
length, with the cross section a flattened oval 2.4 cm. wide by 1.4 
em. thick. In order to attach the handle to the blade a slot about 
5.3 cm. long was sawed into the solid piece of wood which formed 
the handle, and into this the flat tang of the blade was inserted and 
fastened by three small iron rivets. The much worn blade had broken 
close to the haft. The entire length of the broken object is 8.2 cm., 
5.38 cm. of this being accounted for by the tang. The tang tapers 
toward the blade where it measures 2.1 cm. in width, the width at the 
end being 2.4 cm. The blade measures 2.4 cm. in width at the heel 
with a maximum thickness of 2 mm. (pl. 18, g). 
Projectile point.—The one metal projectile point recovered from the 
site was found during the excavation of Feature 8. It is long and nar- 
row, measuring 9.3 em. in length, 7 mm. of this being accounted for by 
the stem. The maximum width of 1.8 cm. occurs at the shoulders. 
The stem, 6 mm. in width, with straight, parallel sides, widens sharply 
at the base toa width of 9mm. It is little damaged by rust and weighs 
9 grams (pl. 13,7). 
There are some interesting changes in projectile points in the Plains 
area during the late precontact, early contact, and historic periods. 
In the late prehistoric period arrowpoints tend to be smaller and 
lighter in weight than those from the earlier sites, while the earliest 
metal points tend to be even lighter than those of stone. As trade 
goods become more common at the sites, arrowpoints rise in size and 
weight and eventually become heavier than the stone points which 
they replace. This may reflect a change in bows and/or in hunting 
methods, which in turn is probably related to the acquisition of the 
horse. 
Jingles.—These objects, variously known in the literature as 
“jingles,” “tinklers,” or “danglers,” are small cones rolled from thin 
sheet metal, either brass, copper, or iron and used to decorate clothing, 
