60 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



bone. Some are found in Great Britain, but of simple forms and 

 rude workmanship. Dr Abbott well said of these, and some other 

 things, ' It is certain that the majority of our specimens, such as 

 scrapers, drilling stones, etc., are manufactured with greater ele- 

 gance, and evince a more thorough knowledge of the chipping art. 

 The English specimens appear to be all flakes, which have had the 

 edges chipped, that the required shape might be given to the speci- 

 men.' Ours are usually worked over the entire surface, but not in- 

 variably, for we have specimens as rude as any in England. 



In some places perforators are rare, and but six were catalogued 

 in the Wagman collection at Saratoga. Out of 327 in Mr Douglass' 

 collection, but 29 are credited to New York, where they really are 

 abundant. 



So slight is the division between these and arrow-heads, in very 

 many cases, that it has recently been suggested that they are but a 

 slender form of these. Sometimes it is a question to which class to 

 assign some forms. A series of triangular arrows from one site, com- 

 mencing with a broad form, grades insensibly into those so slender 

 that they would be called drills anywhere else. The main difficulty, 

 however, is to assign them a distinct use. They fit well in the spiral 

 perforations of gorgets, but no great length would have been required 

 for these. Possibly they may have been used in perforating wood, 

 but this is doubtful. For piercing leather a sharp bone or thorn 

 would have been preferable. An early writer, in speaking of shell 

 beads, said they were drilled with a nail or a sharp stone. We might 

 suppose that their use was of this nature, were it not for their abun- 

 dance in places where large shell beads were not likely to be made. 

 Their fragile character and few signs of use, increase the difficulties 

 of the problem. Some, therefore, have suggested that many were 

 pins, more or less ornamental. Dr Rati thought some of the straight, 

 double pointed forms might have been used in fishing, the line being 

 attached in the center, according to a well known method. The ques- 

 tion can not be satisfactorily discussed now. 



Long straight perforators or drills, for the common name will be 

 used here, are quite common, and are usually of grey, drab, or black 

 flint, often expanding at the base. They suggest awls or bodkins, at 



