REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I9I4 6j 



The collection contains several forms of the banner stone, the 

 more common type being oval in outline with either end truncated. 

 The so-called butterfly shape does not appear and none of the 

 specimens have the indented top and base. Another form is reel- 

 shaped with concave sides. Still another, represented by five 

 specimens resembles up-turned horns. This type is thicker in 

 proportion to the others and the hole somewhat larger. There is a 

 pick-shaped implement with a lateral groove on the flattened 

 under side. This form grades into an oval-shaped pick somewhat 

 resembling a war club head or an elongated sharp-pointed oval. 

 A further evolution shows the type flattened, and then come two 

 specimens of this form which are not drilled. They might have 

 been prepared either for banner stones or for boat stones. The 

 boat stone, however, has two small holes drilled from the under side. 

 It is interesting to note in this connection that all these implements 

 in their various forms may be arranged to show how one shape 

 may merge into another. Thus, it has not been difficult to show 

 how a problematical object shaped in general like a boat may grad- 

 ually merge into the classification of the gorget or the bird stone. 

 The Bigelow collection is rich in many specimens of both these 

 types and contains many peculiar forms of both the gorget and the 

 bird stone. 



There was a time, according to the statements of the older col- 

 lectors, when the copper implements from the Seneca river and 

 from the western end of Oneida lake were so common that no 

 particular attention was paid to them. If the local collector desired 

 any specimen for his collection it was a finely formed arrowhead, 

 spear, or stone axe. Farmers in that region would save up the 

 copper implements until they had several pounds when they would 

 bring them to the villages and sell them to the tinsmiths. Mr 

 Bigelow, however, was fortunate in preserving about twenty speci- 

 mens of copper implements. These consist of arrowheads, spears, 

 adzes, chisels and one mattock or pick. Some of the smaller im- 

 plements have long pronged shafts, similar to that of modern knives, 

 which provide for insertion into a wooden handle. Other types 

 have a flange. The flange in the mattock, which weighs several 

 pounds, is particularly conspicuous. The Museum is fortunate in 

 having this rich collection of New York native copper implements. 

 All the implements resemble in every detail those found in Wis- 

 consin, Michigan and Minnesota and seem to have been made by 

 similar people. Native copper implements are not found inclusively 

 in Iroquois sites in New York. 



