600 STONE IMPLEMENTS FROM SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN. 



wise caused uncertainty of grasp. Thick gloves improved matters 

 somewhat, but flaking was seldom successful, and large flakes seemed 

 to be altogether impossible results. The failure by free-hand methods 

 led to other experiments. The stone was made to stand on edge by 

 sinking it partly into compact sand or sod. The blow was then 

 directed upon one of the usual points chosen for flaking, the hammer 

 being held lightly, so that in case of a glancing blow it might be 

 allowed to leave the hand and strike the ground at the side of the 

 stone operated upon. With this greater freedom of action it developed 

 that flakes were produced, but more often from the hammer than from 

 the stone struck. This result was made nearly constant by using the 

 smaller or thinner stone as the hammer when a difference of weight or 

 thickness existed. Thus, without change in the operation other than 

 transferring the design of flaking from the stone struck to the stone 

 which gave the blow, choosing flaking points in its circumference 

 rather than in the circumference of the stone upon the ground, flakes 

 were successfully reproduced. 



The three sketches given in Plate X illustrate the operation and the 

 manner of revolving the stone held in the hand as successive flakes 

 were made. 



All the forms of nuclei and flakes characteristic of the Benton trap 

 refuse resulted from extended experiments, and more commonly from 

 the stone employed as the hammer. It was observed that, unless fresh 

 stones often replaced those experimented with, battering and fracture 

 carried them beyond common effects found in the aboriginal refuse. 



Specialization of the flakes was pursued far enough to show that 

 there was little difficulty in applying the ordinary methods of shaping, 

 the flake being held in the hand and slanting blows from a hammer 

 stone delivered along its edge. A combination of flaking and battering 

 soon produced the desired outlines. Grinding with the rough surface 

 of flakes and nucleus facets soon gave the desired edges, the grinding 

 surfaces taking on characters similar to those observed in the abrading 

 tools shown in Plate III. 



It is not claimed that the aboriginal method of flake making is cer- 

 tainly determined by these experiments, but the operation is not with- 

 out precedent among primitive peoples. Two instances in which the 

 stone flaked serveil as the hammer have been reported, one in Aus- 

 tralia, where flakes were made,' and one in Tasmania,^ in which the 

 edge of the stone was sharpened by the removal of flakes. 



'Mackie's Geol. and Nat. Hist. Repertory, 1867, vol. 1, page 258. T. Baines ''Ou 

 the Flint Flakes in the Drift and the Manufacture of Stone Implements by the Aus- 

 tralians." Also quotation in, Evans's Ancient Stone Implements, page 25, from 

 another account by the same author. Anthropologiciil Keview, Vol. IV, p.ige civ. 



- Operation cited by F. H. Cushing. ''The Arrow." Anthropologist, Vol. YIII, 

 page 328. 



