84 STONE IMPLEMENTS (etii. asn. 15 



reliiieiiieiit with tliose of tlic iiiteiior where Hint was abiiiidaiil. llhy- 

 olite was hardly less tractable, but Hint and jasper admitted of much 

 lii}j:lu'r refinement. 



There are somewhat marked variations in the shaj)e of objects of like 

 elass, material, and size, and this is possiblj' due partly to the presence 

 of dilferciit tribes or families within the district. Thoujili there is .some 

 tendency toward localization of ])articnlar sliapes, all forms arc. so far 

 as I can learn, pretty well distributed up and down the piovincc. Many 

 of the diflerences in detail of shape may have their orij;in in causes 

 oi)ciating within the limits of a particnhir district or within a single 

 tribe. Of possible causes of variation nniy be mentioned diflerences in 

 method of halting, differences in use, variations in models, or the tend- 

 encies of individual taste. 



BLADES — ULANKS, CUTTING IMPLEMENTS 



It is the fashion to si)eak of the leaf-shape blades as knives; but no 

 one can say of any particular unspecialized blade, save where it shows 

 signs of use, whether it was a finished tool intended to be used in this 

 form as knife or scraper, or whether it was simply a blank awaiting 

 the jjleasure of the elaborator. It was not necessary to stem or notch 

 the knife blade for hafting, as the haft could be made tlie full width of 

 the blade, but the projectile point had to be trimmed down or notc^hed at 

 the stem end to accommodate it to the width of tlie slender shaft in 

 whicii it was set. The large size of some of the stemmed and notched 

 forms w(mld seem to preclude the notion of their use as projectile 

 points, yet it is not safe to say that any one of these objects was not 

 used or could not have been u.sed, on occasion, by some of tiie warlike 

 natives of the Chesapeake i)rovince as heads for their spears or javelins. 



It is a matter worthy of note that colonial writers rarely mention 

 the use of stone knives, while shell and reed knives are many times 

 referred to. One mention of the former may be given. Smith,' speak- 

 ing of medical practices, makes the following remark: "But to scarrifle 

 a swelling, or make incision, their best instruments are some s))liuted 

 stone." This may, of course, refer either to elaborately shaped imple- 

 ments or to mere flakes or sharp fragments. Plate xxxv illustrates 

 blades of quartzite; plate xxxix, blades of quartz, and plate XLIV, 

 blades of rhyolite. 



SPECIALIZED BLADES — PROJECTILE POINTS, ETC 



Under this head maj' be placed, for convenience of description, all 

 medium and small size ])oints having outlines s))ecialized for hafting, 

 since all such may have been used for arrowpoints or for heads of 

 spears or javelins. Colonial writers make frecinent mention of the use 

 of arrows by the Chesapeake i)eoples, and spears and javelins are 

 occasionally referred to. Smith describes a variety of forms in the 



• History ut Virginia, liicLiuoud. 1819, vol. i, p. 137. 



