312 



BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[boll, no 



Tlie fragments are assorted afconlinp; to shape autl size best corresponding to 

 the weapons desired ; tlie sniail ones, l)est fit in sliape and 

 [Klamath Arrow tliiclvness, are used for arrowliends ; similar slierds, Init 

 ^ ^^^' larger in size, for spear points; the long narrow pieces for 



borers, and so on. To work the Hakes into the desired forms, certain tools 

 are required, one of which is represented in figure 1.' It consists of a 

 stick (a), which is in form and thickness not unlike an arrow shaft and about 

 H feet in length, lo one end of which a jtoint {h) is faslened, of some tough 

 material, as the tooth of llio sea lion or the horn ol' elk, and even ii'on among 

 the present Klamaths. although the rock do(>s not work as well, and brittles 

 where the ('(]iXo oughl to ho sharji. The jioint is reiiresented in natural size 

 . . . to bcttci' illusli'ale its beveled curve, which form admits a gi'adual }ires- 

 sure to :i limited space in a i»iece of the sherd. During the opernlion, the rock 

 is pai'tially enwrapi»ed in a iii(>ce of buckskin for belter nianiitulntion. its Ihit 

 side resting against the fleshy jiarf of the thumb of the left hand, only the edge 



to be worked being left ex- 

 posed (fig. 3). Tlie tool is 

 worked with the riglit liand, 

 while the lower part of the 

 handle, usually ornamented, 

 is held between tlie arm and 

 the body so as to guide the 

 instrument with a steady 

 hand. Tlie main movements 

 are shown at a, b, c of figure 

 4. With the movement as 

 illustrated at a larger flakes 

 are detached, and the rock is 

 roughly shaped into the de- 

 sired form; while with the 

 movement shown at h long 

 flakes are broken, which frequently reach the nii<ldle of the sherd, producing 

 the ridge of the points or knives ; and, with movement illustrated at c, the 

 smaller chips of the cutting edge are worked." 



The application of the bone tool in notching the arrow point is 

 illustrated in figure 178. 



Si^eaking of the Indians of California, probably of one of the 

 Shoshonean tribes, Lieut. E. G. Beckwith. who ac- 

 companied the railroad expeditions to the Pacific 

 coast in 1855, says: 



Hue of them seated himself near nie and made from a fragment of quartz, 

 with a simple piece of round bone, on(> end of which was semisi>lierical, with 

 a small crease in it (as if worn by a tlii'ead) the sixle(>nlh of an inch in 

 depth, an arrowhead which was very sharp and piercing, and such as they use 

 on all their arrows. The skill and rapidity with which it was made, without 

 a blow, but by simply breaking the sharp edges with the creased bone by 

 the strength of liis hands — for the crease merely served to prevent the instru- 

 ment from slipping, affording lio leverage — was remarkable.^ 



^ The original reference figures are retained throughout this citation. 



^ SrluHiiachcr, Methods of Making Stone Weapons, p. 547. 



^ Beckwith, Report of Explorations for a Route for the Pacific Railroad, p. 43. 



Fig. 17S. Free-hand pressure chipping of the 

 Klamath Indians. (Schumacher.) 



I'aiute : Beckwlth's 

 Account 



