holmes] 



ABORIGIlSrAL AMERICAISr ANTIQUITIES^ PART I 



353 



The simplest form of unliafted rotary drill is the pointed stone 

 held between the thumb and finger tips and twirled 

 Drill" ^° °^^'' back and forth (fig. 214), or an implement of some- 

 what T shape (fig. 215), held in the hand as a gimlet 

 and twirled back and forth with pressure, producing the desired 

 bore. The ordinary form of shafted revolving drill (fig. 21G) is 

 rotated back and forth between the palms of the 

 The Palm Drill hands after the manner of the fire drill, or between 

 one palm and the thigh. These methods were in com- 



FiG. 214. Primitive method 

 of drilling. 



Fig. 21.J. Primitive method of drilliiij: 



Fig. 216. Primitive method of 



drilling. Fig. 217. Primitive method of drilling. 



mon use throughout America, and McGuire questions whether any 

 other more efficient form of mechanical device for mounting and op- 

 erating the drill point than this was in use among the tribes south 

 of Alaska in pre-Columbian times. Drawings rcpi-esenting drills, 

 found in the ancient Mexican codices, all represent the one type 

 (fig. 217). Other devices for revolving the drill have been found in 



