﻿ABORIGINAL 
  CHIPPED 
  STONE 
  IMPLEMENTS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  39 
  

  

  use 
  Staves 
  like 
  unto 
  javelins, 
  headed 
  with 
  bone. 
  With 
  these 
  they 
  

   dart 
  fish 
  swimming 
  in 
  the 
  water.' 
  This, 
  however, 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  

   like 
  the 
  early 
  Iroquois 
  bone 
  harpoon, 
  barbed 
  only 
  on 
  one 
  side. 
  The 
  

   w^ooden 
  sword, 
  worn 
  on 
  the 
  back, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  with 
  a 
  deer's 
  antler 
  

   inserted, 
  was 
  mentioned 
  by 
  him, 
  but 
  no 
  farther 
  described. 
  A 
  strong 
  

   point 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  use 
  is 
  that 
  on 
  no 
  Iroquois 
  site 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  has 
  

   any 
  early 
  article 
  been 
  found 
  which 
  could 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  stone 
  spear- 
  

   head. 
  At 
  an 
  early 
  day 
  they 
  were 
  abundant. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  in 
  his 
  picture 
  of 
  Atotarho, 
  David 
  Cusick 
  

   placed 
  a 
  spear 
  in 
  the 
  hand 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  messengers. 
  Bruyas 
  has 
  

   allusions 
  to 
  spears 
  in 
  his 
  early 
  Mohawk 
  lexicon, 
  and 
  their 
  occasional 
  

   use 
  may 
  be 
  inferred 
  from 
  the 
  Jesuit 
  relations, 
  but 
  somewhat 
  obscurely. 
  

   The 
  Iroquois 
  sword, 
  whatever 
  that 
  may 
  have 
  been, 
  was 
  often 
  men- 
  

   tioned. 
  Schoolcraft 
  gives 
  the 
  word 
  for 
  spear 
  in 
  several 
  Iroquois 
  dia- 
  

   lects, 
  and 
  Zeisberger 
  uses 
  for 
  lance 
  the 
  name 
  which 
  appears 
  in 
  

   another 
  lexicon, 
  half 
  a 
  century 
  earlier. 
  One 
  Virginia 
  picture 
  has 
  

   Indians 
  with 
  fishing 
  spears, 
  b.ut 
  these 
  are 
  described 
  as 
  having 
  wooden 
  

   points, 
  not 
  metal 
  or 
  stone. 
  A 
  weapon 
  so 
  useful 
  was 
  not 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  

   abandoned 
  until 
  a 
  substitute 
  was 
  foun^, 
  but 
  it 
  seems 
  certain 
  that 
  the 
  

   large 
  stone 
  spear-head 
  was 
  not 
  generally 
  in 
  use 
  here 
  three 
  hundred 
  

   years 
  ago. 
  History 
  and 
  archeology 
  agree 
  in 
  this. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  another 
  of 
  the 
  curious 
  proofs 
  of 
  a 
  change 
  in 
  race 
  and 
  

   occupation. 
  Iroquois 
  and 
  Algonquin 
  alike 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  known 
  

   little 
  of 
  the 
  higher 
  stone 
  art 
  of 
  their 
  predecessors, 
  and 
  a 
  weapon 
  once 
  

   everywhere 
  abundant, 
  had 
  almost 
  ceased 
  to 
  exist. 
  A 
  sweeping 
  

   change 
  had 
  passed 
  over 
  the 
  land, 
  and 
  the 
  new 
  comers 
  did 
  not 
  inherit 
  

   the 
  arts 
  of 
  the 
  old. 
  If 
  they 
  did 
  not, 
  how 
  could 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  their 
  

   descendants? 
  Allowing 
  for 
  every 
  resemblance, 
  there 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  wide 
  

   gulf 
  between 
  the 
  Indian 
  of 
  our 
  northern 
  and 
  eastern 
  states, 
  as 
  first 
  

   known 
  to 
  the 
  whites, 
  and 
  those 
  who 
  preceded 
  him. 
  This 
  difference 
  

   can 
  only 
  be 
  fully 
  appreciated 
  by 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  early 
  sites 
  of 
  a 
  

   known 
  age, 
  to 
  examine. 
  

  

  Spear-heads 
  vary 
  greatly 
  in 
  character, 
  and 
  still 
  more 
  in 
  size, 
  if 
  we 
  

   make 
  the 
  minimum 
  two 
  and 
  one 
  half 
  inches 
  in 
  length. 
  In 
  many 
  

   places 
  this 
  would 
  compel 
  us 
  to 
  reckon 
  more 
  spears 
  than 
  arrows; 
  and 
  

   if 
  we 
  remem.ber 
  the 
  vast 
  numbers 
  carried 
  off 
  — 
  for 
  these 
  naturally 
  

  

  