Indian Monnds at BroJien Kettle Creek. 97 



tightly. To have the fingers tight and the wrist stiff 

 would in a few minutes render the arm useless and 

 would paralyze the hand and wrist. 



In the manner stated rapid blows could be struck 

 effectively and with precision without injury to the arm. 

 It might be added that these hammers have been found 

 in all parts of the Avorld. They are found among the 

 comparatively modern Indians and in the ruins of an- 

 cient Troy, fifty feet below the surface. It seems to have 

 been the universal tool of the uncivilized man. 



Battering one stone against another was, of course, 

 the very earliest discovery of the savage. In cracking- 

 nuts gathered in the primal forests, and grinding herbs 

 and bark, the primitive man did what the small boy does 

 today, lays the object on one stone and crushes it with 

 another. 



This "battered" tool is without doubt the oldest form 

 of tool making. It came before man learned to "peck," 

 "chip" or "flake." Its usefulness made it permanent 

 until it w^as supplanted with steel and iron of the later 

 civilization. It was a powerful tool and weapon in the 

 hands of an expert. Used with the hammer and closely 

 resembling it was the ax, several of which have been 

 taken from the mound. They are made out of different 

 material and are different in shape. They are usually 

 pecked instruments rubbed down and polished. Unlike 

 the hammer, the groove is around the sides and one end, 

 the other end being smooth. The grooved end was al- 

 wsijs away from the handle. The bitt or cutting edge 

 is worked down from both sides so that the edge would 

 be in the center of the instrument. The bitt close to the 

 handle is lower than that part further away. This is to 

 give it more power in felling trees and the other work 

 for which it is designed. It would be interesting to know 

 how the discovery of many of these little points was 

 made, but it is impossible. Some of the axes have their 

 groove on an angle so that in fixing on the handle the 

 bitt w^ould be thrown much closer to the handle than 

 fixing it at right angles; this, too, is for the better work- 

 ing of the tool. The poles of these axes show that they 

 have been used for hammers. 



