34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Seneca river. The base has a double curve. It is a fine example of 

 a rare form. , 



Fig. 78 shows a frequent form which is often rude. This, however, 

 is neatly made, and is ridged on both sides. It is of brown flint, two 

 and one quarter inches long, has a long stem, and is from the same 

 place. Such forms are often flattened on one side, and ridged on 

 the other. Fig. 79 is a small arrow Of drab flint, rather flat and a 

 little curved. It is but seven eighths of an inch long, stemmed and 

 broad. This is also from the Seneca river. Triangular arrows are 

 found there even shorter than this. 



Fig. 80 represents one of the commonest forms, and one very vari- 

 able in size, material and finish. They are usually coarsely made, 

 and probably were rapidly finished and little valued. This one is of 

 black flint, and is one and one half inches long. They are often much 

 smaller, and on many sites scarcely any thing else occurs. In assign- 

 ing these small points to boys, the fact has been overlooked that the 

 efficiency of an arrow-head was not in proportion to its size. Its 

 office was simply to open the way for the shaft which propelled it, 

 and for this purpose it needed only to be sharp and slightly larger 

 than the shaft itself. Thus Verrazano, in 1524, found the Long 

 Island indians using arrows tipped with fish bones, while farther east 

 many had them tipped with stones. In an account of New England 

 indians, written in 1620, it is said, ' For their weapons they have 

 bowes and arrowes, some of them headed with bone, and some with 

 brasse.' Capt. John Smith said that the indians of Virginia had 

 many arrows headed with bone. Others used sharp stones, turkey 

 spurs, or birds' bills. The Sasquehanocks whom he met in 1608, 

 had arrows a yard and a quarter long, ' headed with flints or splinters 

 of stones, in forme like a heart, an inch broade, and an inch and a 

 halfe or more long.' 



It will be observed that the writer differs from some on the true 

 distinctions of arrow-heads, while following the usual classification 

 as a matter of convenience. The small points were not made merely 

 for children, but were useful to men. Length is a less essential 

 feature than breadth, and some long and slender forms may have 

 been used as arrows, where shorter and broader forms were not. 



