USE OF COPPER IMPLEMENTS BY AMERICAN ABORIGINES. 705 



tion of this, the caverns at the Pass of Nahr-el-Kelb and at Ant Elias were de- 

 scribed in some detail, and also, in connection with these, the occurrence of 

 flint implements on the surface of modern sandstones at the Cape or Ras near 

 Beyrout; these last were probably of much less antiquity than those of the more 

 ancient caverns. A discussion ensued, which was taken part in by a number of 

 distinguished Fellows of the Royal Society, including Sir H. Barkly, F.R.S. , 

 Professors Wiltshire, F.R.S. , Warrington Smyth, F.R.S., Rupert Jones, F.R.S.; 

 Colonel Herschel, F.R.S., the talented son of the late Sir John Herschel; Dr. 

 Rae, F.R.S., the Arctic explorer; Dr. Dawson, F.R.S.; Mr. D. Howard, the 

 Vice-President of the Chemical Institute, and other geologists. The meeting 

 afterwards adjourned to the Museum whese refreshments were served. 



THE USE OF COPPER IMPLEMENTS BY THE AMERICAN 



ABORIGINES. 



PROFESSOR WRIGHT. 



The interest with which we contemplate the work of the mound-builders is 

 greatly enhanced by reflection upon the rudeness of their tools and the simplicity 

 of their mechanical contrivances. There is no evidence that the original inhabit- 

 ants of America had any knowledge of iron, or that they knew how to manufac- 

 ture bronze. Ornaments of silver and gold were abundant in Mexico and South 

 America, but neither of these valuable metals is available for tools. Copper was 

 distributed over the whole of North America; and, while used extensively for 

 ornaments, was only occasionally manufactured into implements; and, indeed, 

 copper is not hard enough either to make a good edged-tool or a hammer. 

 Hence at the time of its discovery by Columbus, America was still in the stone 

 age, and stone implements everywhere marked the haunts of the aboriginal in- 

 habitants; and the implem.ents found in the most elaborate earthworks of the 

 mound-builders are not superior in design or workmanship to those which mark 

 the camping-places of the roving tribes. 



Copper was, as we have said, widely disseminated among the aborigines of 

 America, being found in almost every place where there are any prehistoric re- 

 mains, from the lake to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic Coast to the 

 Mississippi and beyond. It was occasionally wrought into axes, chisels, gravers, 

 knives, arrow-points and spears, but its principal use was for ornaments. Prof. 

 Putnam has shown that the ancient copper implements of the United States have 

 all been manufactured by hammering, proving that the natives did not uhder- 

 the art of casting. In South America, however, copper has been found contain- 

 taining the impress of the molds in which it was cast. The copper bracelets and 

 beads so often found in the mounds were made from thin plates of the metal 

 which had been hammered into shape and then bent over a string. 



The source from which copper implements and ornaments have been derived 



