POLISHED STONE ARTICLES USED BY THE NEW YORK ABORIGINES 23 



by one and one half inches. A long gouge of black basalt from 

 Skaneateles has a bulge in the back, but no dorsal groove. It was 

 found in 1884 and is five and three eighths by two inches. Not far 

 from this, in Spafford, a broad and thin ironstone gouge is three and 

 seven eighths by two and one eighth inches. 



A curious gouge of black basalt, from Oxford, has several knob- 

 like protuberances on the back. The dimensions are seven and one 

 half by two and three fourths inches. A long and deeply hollowed 

 gouge from Oneida River, three and five eighths by one and five 

 eighths inches, has two grooves across the back; and Pompey fur- 

 nishes a long gouge of greenish grey stone, with the same feature. 

 This implement is thick, but not of great length, the dimensions 

 being four by one and seven eighths inches. 



One beautiful long gouge from the Oneida River is of red slate, a 

 very unusual material. It is seven and three fourths by two inches. 

 One of black basalt from Cross Lake is both large and fine, being 

 io£ inches long and two and one half wide. Another of green- 

 stone, from the Oswego River, is of a long tapering form, flat above. 

 This is nine and three fourths by two and one half inches. 



Broken gouges are frequently found. Fanciful uses have been 

 ascribed to them, but it can hardly be doubted that they were em- 

 ployed in aboriginal carpentry, the shorter forms being often fitted 

 to handles. In making the dug-out canoe they would have been 

 very useful. The wide difference in material and form, however, 

 suggests artisans of differing nations, but they were probably used 

 only for a very limited time, as they certainly were confined to a 

 moderate area. The makers have left so few traces that little can 

 be conjectured regarding them. Only this we know, that they had 

 no practical relationship to the later Indians. 



ADZES AND HOBS 



Stone hoes and spades were but sparingly used in New York, as 

 other materials were employed in the rude agriculture practised 

 here by the aborigines. Loskiel says that the Delawares and Iro- 

 quois ' used formerly the shoulder blade of a deer or a tortoise shell, 

 sharpened upon a stone and fastened to a thick stick, instead of a 



