﻿POLISHED 
  STONE 
  ARTICLES 
  USED 
  BY 
  THE 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  ABORIGINES 
  9 
  

  

  never 
  penetrated 
  this 
  State. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  the 
  grooved 
  axes 
  

   and 
  chungke 
  stones. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand 
  the 
  makers 
  of 
  some 
  slate 
  

   knives, 
  amulets, 
  and 
  other 
  articles 
  here, 
  never 
  penetrated 
  the 
  South. 
  

   So 
  to 
  speak, 
  there 
  was 
  an 
  aboriginal 
  Mason 
  and 
  Dixon's 
  line. 
  

  

  That 
  many 
  articles 
  required 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  to 
  finish, 
  seems 
  plain, 
  

   and 
  yet 
  this 
  time 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  overestimated, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  ideas 
  

   of 
  arrow 
  making 
  and 
  other 
  primitive 
  arts. 
  A 
  dexterous 
  workman 
  

   went 
  on 
  confidently, 
  and 
  his 
  simple 
  tools 
  were 
  sometimes 
  far 
  more 
  

   efficient 
  than 
  we 
  think. 
  Skill 
  was 
  more 
  than 
  instruments. 
  Some- 
  

   times 
  the 
  stone 
  was 
  wrought 
  while 
  fresh 
  and 
  soft, 
  hardening 
  after- 
  

   wards 
  by 
  exposure 
  and 
  use, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Cherokee 
  pipes; 
  

   but 
  a 
  good 
  flint 
  or 
  gritty 
  stone 
  cut 
  many 
  materials 
  with 
  great 
  

   rapidity 
  and 
  ease. 
  The 
  fine 
  finish 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  much 
  slower 
  

   work, 
  reserved 
  for 
  a 
  master 
  hand. 
  Drilling 
  was 
  done 
  in 
  various 
  

   ways 
  and 
  most 
  gorgets 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  perforated 
  with 
  flint. 
  

   Banner 
  stones 
  were 
  sometimes 
  partially 
  drilled 
  with 
  this, 
  as 
  appears 
  

   in 
  some 
  unfinished 
  pieces. 
  Sometimes 
  a 
  tubular 
  drill 
  was 
  used, 
  

   as 
  we 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  way; 
  sometimes 
  a 
  gouging 
  process 
  was 
  em- 
  

   ployed. 
  Precisely 
  how 
  the 
  picking 
  was 
  done 
  may 
  be 
  less 
  plain, 
  

   but 
  effective 
  hard 
  and 
  sharp 
  stones 
  are 
  not 
  rare. 
  Usually 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  

   neat 
  and 
  uniform 
  even 
  where 
  the 
  material 
  is 
  hard. 
  As 
  polishing 
  

   was 
  the 
  last 
  process 
  it 
  began 
  with 
  the 
  most 
  essential 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   implements 
  as 
  the 
  cutting 
  edge, 
  where 
  it 
  often 
  preceded 
  the 
  picking. 
  

  

  That 
  many 
  early 
  implements 
  of 
  polished 
  stone 
  were 
  not 
  used 
  by 
  

   the 
  later 
  Indians, 
  and 
  indeed 
  were 
  unknown 
  to 
  them, 
  is 
  now 
  well 
  

   understood. 
  This, 
  like 
  the 
  same 
  fact 
  in 
  chipped 
  stone, 
  points 
  to 
  

   a 
  great 
  and 
  probably 
  sudden 
  change. 
  They 
  were 
  not 
  perpetuated 
  

   by 
  descent, 
  nor 
  acquired 
  by 
  conquest, 
  but 
  were 
  simply 
  lost 
  arts, 
  

   because 
  there 
  were 
  intervals 
  between 
  the 
  early 
  and 
  later 
  comers. 
  

   The 
  stone 
  gorget, 
  banner 
  stone, 
  amulet, 
  tube, 
  boat 
  stone, 
  slate 
  

   knife^ 
  grooved 
  axe 
  and 
  gouge^ 
  had 
  no 
  place 
  at 
  all 
  among 
  the 
  Iro- 
  

   quois, 
  historic 
  or 
  prehistoric, 
  yet 
  all 
  these 
  occur 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  in 
  

   their 
  ancient 
  territory. 
  These, 
  too, 
  were 
  among 
  the 
  finest 
  of 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  articles 
  of 
  polished 
  stone, 
  and 
  yet 
  were 
  utterly 
  unknown 
  to 
  

   them, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  appears. 
  Thus, 
  whoever 
  was 
  here 
  before 
  their 
  com- 
  

   ing 
  had 
  little 
  in 
  common 
  with 
  them, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  simplest 
  

  

  