656 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1888. 



by a large uumber of specimens from soutbeiu California. Their mate- 

 rial is sandstone, serj)entine, soapstoue, etc., though occasional speci- 

 mens have appeared of a harder material like greenstone. They vary 

 much in size and character. They are from 1^ inches in diameter 

 to 5 inches and more. Some are only half an inch in thickness, 

 while others are so thick as to equal their diameter, almost forming a 

 globe. Some are pear-shaped; others, with the globular form like No. 

 125, have their holes drilled the same size all through. They are occa- 

 sionally decorated, and may have served as heads for a club or staff. 

 Specimens with a staff 5 feet long have been found in California and 

 Mexico, and also in Kew Zealand. 



No. 124 is hornblende, from Santa Catalina Island; 125 greenstone, 

 and 126 serpentine, from Santa Eosa Island, California. 



Evidences of usage are to be seen in specimens resembling 124, 126, 

 and similar objects are used in Mexico called riattas. A lariat is passed 

 through the hole in the stone and stretched, and is polished and 

 smoothed by the stone rubbing back and forth. 



CUTTING- TOOLS, SCRAPER AND SPADE-LIKE IMPLEMENTS. 



Cutting tools. — No. 93 is of black slate, from Pennsylvania; 94, hard 

 red shale, from Pennsylvania; 95, from Indiana. Implements similar 

 to these are used on the northwest coast for opening fish. (Fig. 29.) 



Scraper and spadeUke implements. — These have been classed as axes, 

 but an examination shows them more likely to have served as scrapers 

 or spades. They are of large size, hard material, and scarcely enough 

 examples have been found to establish them as a class. They are pos- 

 sibly abnormal specimens. No. 96 is greenstone, from Kentucky; 97, 

 from Arkansas; 98 and 99, from South Carolina. 



STONE VESSELS FOR CARRYING OR HOLDING LIQUIDS — COOKING AND 



GRINDING UTENSILS. 



Vessels like a pot or platter were made and used by the aborigines. 

 East of the liocky Mountains they were made of soapstone; while on 

 the western side the material used was much harder. Soapstone quar- 

 ries have been found in many parts of the United States v/here these 

 utensils had been manufactured by the prehistoric man. Uncompleted 

 vessels and those in fragments are frequently found. They were many 

 times made of a size and depth sufficient to hold, and if need be cook, 

 liquids. (Figs. 30, 31, 32, 33.) 



