IMPLEMENTS OF FLINT, ETC. 



69 



Fig. 17 



Fig. 16 represents a delicate splinter of flint. Similar splinters of 

 chert and jasper are quite common FlG - 1C - 



• everywhere, and it seems probable that " : ^£^^ r-=f= ?^ Ss s^ 3 ^55^2^^^^ 7 

 they are only a natural product of the Flint flake, 



chipping of masses of these minerals, when fashioning various implements. 

 They might readily be utilized as awls, or perforators of substances soft 

 as leather; and attention has been called to similar flakes in Europe, as 

 allied to, or identical with "the flint flakes of bone harpoon heads occa- 

 sionally found in Scania," which " are also made of extremely small flakes" 

 (Evans). Inasmuch as fishing was doubtless a prominent occupation of the 

 California coast tribes, and as these splinters of flint are quite abundant, 

 it is quite probable that such 

 fragments were put to several 

 uses, as the one above sug- 

 gested, but no trace of usage 

 exists upon the specimen fig- 

 ured, or any of the accompany- 

 ing smaller ones. 



Fig. 17 represents a 

 chipped implement of white 



quartz, found by Mr. Schu- Implement of quartz with handle of asphaltum. 



macher on Santa Cruz Island (Nat. Mus. No. 18302), that bears some 

 resemblance to the large drill, but which to a greater degree recalls the 

 paleolithic implements of Europe. This tool or weapon, as the case may 

 be, measures a little more than three inches in length, by two in breadth. 

 It is cpiite smoothly chipped upon its three sides, but is not acutely pointed. 

 Its broad and thick base is covered with a mass of asphaltum, smooth 

 and fitted to the hand. 



Oval pebbles of the same size, and larger, with a similarly chipped 

 point at one end, but with the other preserving the natiu-al surface of the 

 stone, are not uncommon to New Jersey and more southern States. These, 

 having an unwoi'ked base, would answer the purpose of the specimen rep- 

 resented by Fig. 1 7, if, as we suppose, the asphaltum attached was intended 

 solely to give the hand a better hold. 



