MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS MADE OF STONE. 



By C. C. Abbott. 



Under this heading we have brought together descriptions of several 

 implements and other articles made of stone, the uses of some of which it 

 is impossible, at present, to determine, Certain suggestions as to the use 

 of a few can be obtained from the evident adaptability of the articles them- 

 selves to certain purposes, or from the knowledge that articles of a similar 

 character are still in use by savage tribes. 



Fig. 61 represents a perfect specimen of a large tube of stone It is 

 made of a comparatively soft clay slate of a dull gray color. This tube 

 measures 1 0^ inches in length, and is almost perfectly cylindrical from end 

 to end, with a variation of an £ of an inch in diameter. At the end having 

 the groove about it (Fig. 62), the perforation is f of an inch, while at the 

 other end (Fig. 63) it is one inch in diameter. The exterior surface of 

 the tube is perfectly plain, except a possible attempt at ornamentation at 

 one end, where the surface for a width of about 1 inch is slightly depressed. 

 This may, however, have been connected with the use or uses to which 

 the implement was applied. The hole has been partially drilled, as seen 

 by the well-marked circular striae, which extend one-third of the length 

 from the larger end of the tube. In the remaining two-thirds of the per^ 

 f oration there are irregular deep grooves or cuts apparently made by a 

 sharp flint implement. These incised lines are very close to each other, 

 but do not quite cover the whole surface, and the circular striee cannot 

 be detected on the intervening smooth spaces. It is thus evident that 

 the perforation was made by two different implements, or that the wider 

 orifice was drilled by a revolving borer, after a perforation of uniform calibre 

 through the entire length of the tube had been made by the cutting tool. 



These stone tubes have been the objects of much conjecture on the 

 part of archaeologists. To two of the suggested uses, in all probability, they 



190 



