CHISEL-FORM CELTS. 



83 



ill tlie nortli, tliough less abimdant iii the south.' It is in those locali- 

 ties in which bark instead of logs was used for canoes that they are 

 most uunierons. Sometimes they were hollowed the whole length and 

 used as spiles.^ They were also employed instead of celts in hollowing 

 wooden mortars and the like when a more regular concavity was desired.^ 



Chisels anl> ScKArERs. 



The aboriginal implements known as "chi.sels" are round, elliptical, 

 or rectangular in section. Tlie tiint and jasper specimens are generally 

 widest at the edge, the reverse being usually the case 

 with those of other material. Most of them have marks 

 of hammers at the blunt end, though some are jiolished 

 at the top and a few, from eastern Tennessee, are sharp 

 at both ends. The top (except in the double-edged 

 ones) is usually flat, though a few are ijointed or very 

 thin, almost with cutting edges. Jasjiers and flints are 

 chipped, with the facets polished, the edges highly 

 so. Any form may occur in any locality. Almost 

 invariably they have scraper-form edges. The length 

 is from 2 to G inches. 



Typical examples are shown in figure G6, of yellow 

 jasper, from a grave in Mississippi county, Arkansas; 

 figure (17, of novaculite. from an unknown locality in 



Fig. 66. — Celt, chlsel-ronii. 



Fig. 67. 



I luriii. 



Fig. 68 Celt, chiBel-form. 



Arkansas; figure 68, of serpentine, from Bradley county, Tennessee; 

 figure 69, of sienite, from Caldwell county, North Carolina; and figure 

 70, of gray jasper, from Bradley county, Tennessee. Some specimens 

 are sharp and worn at both ends, and could have been used only with 

 handles. 



' Dawson, J. W. ; Fossil Men, p. 16. 



= Il)i(l., p. 132. 



3 Morgan, L. H. ; League of the Iroquois, p. 358. 



