326 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 60 



death in 1010, not, liowcMor, with the original tools, whieh were of 

 bone, but with tools of iron, which he found to have certain ad- 

 vantages, the rate of weai- doubtless being a first consideration. The 

 chipping Avork is described by Nelson as follows: 



(Jivoii a nodulo of flint or ;i lump of ol)sitlinn, Islii, in luakiii.t; a nolclied nrrow 

 pdiiil. lt'1 us say. <>nii>loys Ihrcc disliucl processes, J'nr each of wiiicli special 

 ((Mils ordinarily art' I'eipiired. The lirst ])Vocess involves the division or 

 Jii'eakin.L;' u\> of the obsidian mass lu obtain suil:d)le Ihin and straiu'lil (lakes; 

 I he secenil pi-ncess consisis in chippinu" the selected Hake (o th(^ size and shape 

 of the arrnw peinl desired; and the third and liual piocess embodies, amonj^ 

 other Ihin.ns, the notchin.i;' of the base of the poini t<> I'acililale its attachment 

 to the arrow shaft. 



I'lir the liist proci^ss, that of dividing the obsidian mass, an ordinary hard, 

 water-woi-n Itowldei- may do, especially if only small flakes are wanted, tlie 

 ol)sidian bein.u' lirokMMi u]) or a Hake struck from it by a direct blow. U.ut if 

 a large spear point or kuife blade is ultimately desired, an intermediate tool 

 is needed. "Phis is apparently (Islu never made one for me to see) a short, 

 stout, blunt-pointed pii>ci' of lione or wood servin.i;' as a sort of punch and 

 sometimes as a lever. As a matter of fact, what i.s wanted in the case of 

 producing a large implement is not tlie division of the ob.sidian mass, but 

 the trimming down of this mass by the detachment from it of all unnecessary 

 portions. A direct blow with a hanunerstone might be fatal to the olisidian 

 coi'e l)eing thus shaited. whil(> an indirect blow, delivered Ihrongh this i)unch, 

 the same being lield at a selected spot and angle, h:is some chance of success 

 in removing the superlhious jioi'tions without shaltering the wliole piece to bits. 

 A hammerstone, then, or a hammerstone together with a punch, are the tools 

 required for the preliminary rough work, namely, the production of flakes or 

 of a flaked core. 



For the secondary flaking, or, as it will be termed in this paper, chipping, 

 a tool was mad(^ as follows: Tsbi on on(^ occasion toolc a connnon spike 

 and at another time a piece of iron rod about the size of a lead pencil. He 

 ground one end down about etpudly on two ojiposiug sides, making a curving, 

 chisel-like cutting edge, lenticular in cros.s section — a tool of a nature halfway 

 Ijetween an awl and a chisel. Around the butt end a bit of cloth was wrapped 

 to ease the handhold, and the chipping tool was finished. The notching tool 

 was jiraclically a duplicate of the lauM'eding. but much smaller. A slender nail 

 was sharpened as before, and, being too small to 1k^ held in the hand as it 

 was, the butt end was inserted into an imi)rovised wooden handle. The whole 

 Piol was nothing more or less than a connnon awl. The two implements are 

 shown in figure 1 Ll''^-!]- 



Another n(M'(>ssary item was a i)iece of leather or hide with which to pro- 

 tect the hand holding the obsidian dui'iiru the chipping and notching proce.sses. 



Five things, therefore, seem to constitute the full coniiilement of tools and 

 accessories used in making the average chii)ped artifact, but more or fewer 

 tools may no doubt be employed under extreme conditions. 



The bi'eaking up ( f stone to be utilized and the prodnction of de- 

 sired Hakes or fragments with strokes of a hammerstone, the first 

 step in imj^ilement making, as described by Mr. Nelson, do not dilfer 

 in any way from the usual methods already fully described. The 

 pressure chip[)ing is proceeded with as follows: 



