POLISHI^G-STONES. 201 



of steatite, the articles thus serving a double purpose. One of these im- 

 plements (P. M. 13335), evidently made from a fragment of a large olla, is 

 of particular interest, as it has two deep grooves cut upon the rounded 

 surface. These grooves, while at right angles, do not meet, and only one 

 of them could be used at a time. One circular and roughly cut mass 

 of steatite, from Santa Catalina (P. M. 13414), has a deep groove across 

 one surface, while the opposite is roughly cut out and forms a small cup 

 about 1 inch deep and 2 inches in diameter. A triangular piece of steatite 

 (P. M. 13339), with a hole in one corner, which may also have been used 

 as a small comali, has a groove a little over 3 inches long on one surface. 

 From these examples it is evident that while implements were often made 

 with care for the particular purpose for which these stones were used, it 

 was far more usual to make the required groove in any piece of steatite 

 that was at hand. Several of the flat pendants, similar to those mentioned 

 further on, are also provided with grooves which sometimes cross each 

 other (P. M. 131<>8 and 13420), and although some are too small to be 

 of use for smoothing ai'row-shafts, they may have been used for simi- 

 lar purposes. One oval and water-worn pebble of hard sandstone, from 

 a grave on Santa Catalina Island (P. M. 13170), has a roughly-cut groove 

 across its centre. The structure of this stone would not allow of its being 

 used in a heated state, and this fact, with the roughness of the groove, may 

 indicate that its proper use was for sharpening or rubbing articles of bone and 

 shell. Stones similar to this are known from the Atlantic States. — F. W. P.] 

 Figs. 73 and 74 represent a piece of pumice-like stone that bears con- 

 siderable resemblance to an ordinary celt or ungrooved axe, such as are 

 common on the Atlantic coast. Six and one-half inches in length by nearly 

 ?>\ in width, this specimen has a flattened base worn smooth by rubbing, 

 and on its superior surface it is very evenly and uniformly sloped from a 

 dorsal ridge. This ridge at one end slopes downward at the same angles 

 as the sides ; while the base in front slopes upward at about the same 

 angle. Another trace of use, besides that of a rubbing-stone for skin- 

 dressing, which was very likely the principal use of the implement, is 

 noticeable in a few deep and narrow grooves along one edge. These re- 

 call the grooves characteristic of the so-called sharpening-stones of the 



