74 



CHISELS. 



FIG. 85. 



axes of the Kjokkenmoddings. The edge, indeed, is polished, 

 but is after all not smoother than the natural fracture of the 

 flint. The projection on the underside of the Danish speci- 

 men (fig. Sla.) is accidental, and due to some peculiarity in 

 the flint. This surface is usually as flat in the Danish speci- 

 mens, as in the New Zealand. 



The chisels (pi. 1, fig. 5) resemble the Danish axes, in 

 having perpendicular sides, but they are 

 narrower, and are almost always ground 

 to a smooth surface. Many of them 

 are slightly hollowed on one side, as 

 in fig. 85. 



There is a curious flat, semi-circular, 

 flint instrument (pi. 1, fig. 3), common 

 in Denmark, but very rarely, if ever, 

 found in Great Britain. The convex 

 edge was evidently fastened into a 

 handle of wood, the marks of which 

 are still in many cases plainly visible. 

 The other edge, which is either straight 

 or concave, is generally provided with 

 a number of teeth, giving it more or less 

 resemblance to a saw. In some cases, 

 it is so much worn away by use, that 

 the implement takes the form of a new 

 moon or a boomerang. The edge is in 

 many cases quite polished, evidently by continuous friction 

 against a soft substance. I say a soft substance, because 

 the polished part overlaps on both sides, and passes in 

 between the teeth of the saw, which would not have been 

 otherwise the case. It is probable that the semi-lunar 

 instruments were fixed in wooden handles, and then used 

 in cleaning skins. Similarly shaped instruments are even 

 now used as knives by the Esquimaux women, under the 



Hollow Chisel. 



