FEWKEsJ CULTUKE AEEAS IN THE WEST INDIES 105 



and both the upper end and terminal edges are sharpened. It is the 

 author's belief that this stone implement was inserted in a slit 

 formed in the extremity of a handle and firmly bound in place by 

 cords. Forms similar to the last mentioned are shown in G and £", 

 which are broader than the last and sharpened at the end. There is 

 a want of symmetry in the two margins of //, the left being shorter 

 than the right. The end opposite the cutting edge is here pointed like 

 a petaloid stone. 



The common form of tool is shown in plate 23, F^ G, II, in which 

 we recognize the contracted shaft, which was probably fiitted to a 

 handle, and the more or less curved edge. 



We have in i^late 24, ^4, B, tool-formed implements in which the two 

 sides of the shaft are not convex, as is usually the case, but are 

 slightly concave when seen in profile. The profile of plate 24, B, 

 would probably have been a complete triangle but for the fact that 

 one point has been broken. The curved side of this triangle is 

 sharpened and probably served as the cutting edge of an implement. 

 The implement C is such that it could readily serve as a spear point, 

 but it may have been used as a gouge for cutting wood previously 

 charred or otherwise softened by fire — a custom ascribed to Carib 

 when they cut down trees or dug out cavities in logs for canoes. It 

 is said that in making canoes they first burned a hollow in a log 

 with live coals and then scraped it out with stone chisels, and some 

 of the stone implements we are now considering may have been used 

 in the way indicated. 



The form of plate 24, Z>, is almost rectangular when seen in profile, 

 although there is a slight difference in width of the butt and cutting 

 edge. In the implement shown in plate 24, £', a handle has been 

 formed by a contraction of the diameter above the end. The same 

 reduction in size occurs in plate 24, I\ but in it the handle is some- 

 what shorter and the cutting edge has a circular form. 



The implement represented in plate 24, G, is a good tool with 

 scjuare margins, tapering uniformly and slightly curved, making it 

 a most effective cutting tool. 



These chisels are sometimes elongated in form, as shown in the 

 specimen in plate 24, /. This otherwise perfect implement is un- 

 fortunately slightly chipped on the cutting edge, but it is sharp and 

 not too thick. The handle is round, terriiinating in a blunt point. 

 Like the preceding, it shows evidences of having been formerly tied 

 by its short handle to a stick or stave to increase its effectiveness. 

 The object shown in plate 24, //, is problematical. 



The tendency in all these tools is to become pointed at one ex- 

 tremity, as in plate 25, A, B, C, and to become broader at the oppo- 

 site end. imparting a well-marked spatulate form. 



