Hvans and ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 43 
Meggers] 
ends are highly battered and blunt. AJl of these specimens are made 
from fine-grained, micaceous schist, roughly shaped by percussion. 
Hoes.—The surface of N—11 produced three specimens that cannot 
be classified as celts, choppers, or hammerstones. The high polish 
or uneven surfaces suggests that they may have been used as a digging 
tool, such asa hoe. All are of fine-grained, micaceous schist, roughly 
shaped by percussion into a long, rectangular form. The only com- 
plete specimen measures 11.0 cm. long, 4.5 cm. wide, and 1.2 cm. thick, 
but the fragments suggest objects of similar size and proportion. 
The used, polished end is beveled with a blunt edge. 
Large core picks (fig. 11, b-e). Large core tools made from ande- 
site cobbles by striking off large flakes are classified, for want of a 
better name, as “picks.” The characteristic feature is a long, curved, 
blunt point usually formed by three or four intersecting concoidal 
fracture planes. The point has been well used and often worn or 
broken off. The “butt” end is bulbous and irregular. Size and 
shape vary, the bulbous end measuring 3-6 cm. across and ranging in 
length from 5-10 em. with the majority around 5-7 cm. long. The 
tip ends usually form a blunt point and the butt ends would fit into 
the palm of the hand quite well. These tools might have been used 
to pry off shells from their attachments or perhaps even to open 
larger shells. That they were used for picking or prying something 
is demonstrated by the fact that the tips are worn and often broken 
off with a 90-degree fracture that resulted from pressure applied 
when the point was used as a lever. 
PERCUSSION-MADE FLAKE TOOLS 
Blades (fig. 12; pl. 11).—If they were viewed individually, one 
might conclude that these specimens were merely flakes struck from 
a core by percussion blows. However, when dozens of them are 
placed side by side, it is immediately clear that the flakes were struck 
off in a regular manner and given additional percussion shaping 
to produce what has been called a “flake blade.” Although the 
blade edge is not retouched or regular, it is sufficiently sharp to 
be used for cutting. As a result of the fracture and the bulb of 
percussion, the cross section tends to be triangular. The most com- 
mon rock material is andesite, with some quartz and fine-grained, 
micaceous schist. Thickness ranges from 0.8-2.0 em., width from 
2.5-5.0 cm., and length from 3.5-6.0 em. 
Flake picks (figs. 11, a, 13-15; pl. 12).—This group of artifacts can 
be divided into two categories, large and small, but both are manu- 
factured in the same manner and are merely size variations of a single 
tool type. A flake 3-10 cm. long was struck from a core by a per- 
513186—60—_5 
