COPPER TOOLS FOUND I2T WI3C0KSIX. 99 



COPPER TOOLS FOUND IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. 



BY PEOr. J. D. BUTLER, LL. D. 



Implements of imalloyed copper are among the most rare and 

 curious of arcliseological findings. The exhibit of these articles 

 now made at the Philadelphia Centennial comprises the largest 

 collection ever brought together. The copper age proper, in dis- 

 tinction from the age of bronze, forms a link in the chain of hu- 

 man development which according to Sir John Lubbock, "is scarce- 

 ly traceable in Europe." The only European museum known to 

 that distinguished archaeologist which contains any copper tools is 

 the Royal Academy at Dublin. The number there was thirty till 

 within a j^ear or two, when five were received from Gunjera — a 

 province in India north of Bombay. 



The articles now on view at the Centennial are as follows: In 

 the Government building, from the Smithsonian Institution, seven, 

 teen real tools, besides casts of several others, and various copper 

 trinkets. In the same building two articles, much corroded, owned 

 in the State of Vermont. 



In the mineral annex. From Ohio eight implements; from Mich- 

 igan nineteen, and from Wisconsin, one hundred and sixtij four. 

 The whole number from all quarters is two hundred and ten. 



I made notes regarding all the exhibits, but having lost them; 

 can only describe the show from Wisconsin. But the coppers 

 from that State are nearly four times as many as all the rest of the 

 world has sent to Philadelphia, and they surpass others in size, va- 

 riety, and perfection of preservation, as much as in number. The 

 only instrument from any other source, not represented among 

 Wisconsin Coppers, is a crescent about six inches long — perhaps 

 intended for a knife, though it has no handle. 



Among the varieties in the Wisconsin exhibit — which is made 

 by the State Historical Society — are the following: 



Ninety-five spear-heads. Of these the larger number are what 

 some antiquarians called "winged," that is the sides of the base are 

 rolled up towards each other so as to form a socket to receive a shaft. 

 Some of these sockets are quite perfect, and all are ingeniously 

 swaged. Sixteen of them are punched each with a hole, round, 



