640 



STONEWOKK 



[b. a. e. 



USE OF THE FLAKING HAMMER — BEGINNING ON THE SECOND SIDE 

 IN BOWLDER WORKING 



as convenient with the hammerstone, if 

 further elaboration were desired, the pres- 

 sure implement, usually a bit of hard 

 bone or antler, suitably hafted, was re- 

 sorted to. By means of strong, abrupt 

 pressure at the proper points, first on 

 one side and then 

 on the other, the 

 flakes were de- 

 tached, margins 

 were trimmed, 

 stems formed, 

 notches made, 

 points sharpened, 

 and the speciali- 

 zation completed. 

 Utilizing flakes or 

 fragments of suit- 

 able shape, the 

 smaller projectile 

 points, drills, scrapers, and knife blades 

 could be completed in a few minutes, 

 but the difficulty increased with increase 

 in size. The larger blades, some of which 

 are upward of 2 ft in length, required 

 skill of a high order for their successful 



elabora- 

 tion. In 

 making 

 small im- 

 plements 

 from frag- 

 ments of 

 proximate 

 form, such 

 as flakes or 

 spalls, the 

 hammer 

 is not re- 

 quired, the 

 work be- 

 ing read- 

 ily accom- 

 p 1 i s h e d 

 with the bone point. It is to be ob- 

 served, however, that the pressure flaker 

 is available only with brittle stone 

 and on forms having rather thin and 

 sharp edges. Fracture processes varied 

 mu(;h in detail from those here sketched. 



USE OF THE BONE FLAKING 

 IMPLEMENT 



FLAKING WITH BONE OR METAL POINT, USING A REST 



In some cases the flakes were removed 

 by setting a punch-like implement upon 

 the proper point and striking it with a 

 mallet, and the larger work was accom- 

 plished by means of strong leverage or 

 heavy strokes, the appliances being too 



vaguely described by those making the 

 record to convey a clear conception of 

 the operations. The manner of resting 

 and holding the stone and the method 

 of applying the percussion and pressure 

 implements differed with the different 

 tribes, but the 

 principles involved 

 are apparently 

 about the sanje 

 with all. The 

 fracture processes 

 served also to pro- 

 duce emergency 

 implements of al- 

 most every class — 

 axes, celts or hatch- 

 ets, picks, adzes, 

 gouges, hammers, 

 etc.; and this ia 

 true not only with the more primitive 

 tribes but with all peoples using stone in 

 the arts. It may be further noted that 

 the flaking hammer was often employed 

 to rough out the 

 forms of many 

 implements, as 

 celts, axes, and 

 adzes, designed 

 to be elaborated 

 and finished by 

 pecking and 

 grinding. See 

 Cores, Flakes, 

 Flaking imple- 

 ments. Hammers. 

 Many varieties 

 of stone can not 

 be shaped by fracture or can be shaped 

 only imperfectly, anil the aborigines re- 

 sorted to the process of battering or. peck- 

 ing to se- 



USE OF THE PECKING HAMMER 



CHISEL USED IN CUTTING STEATITE 



have shown that the work may be compar- 

 atively rapid and that by repeated blows 

 of the hammerstone the toughest and 



