NELSON— FLINT WORKING 



using any medium except glass. This does not mean, however, that 

 he could not be prevailed upon to work obsidian and other rocks. In 

 the second place, Ishi, whether as a result of outside suggestions or 

 his own intelligence I do not recall, found tools made of iron pre- 

 ferable to the old-fashioned implements of Indian manufacture. But 

 while these facts might be urged as objections to the genuineness of 

 his art, it still remains a fact that Ishi's method is his own and was 

 mastered by him years before, probably with tools of the same gen- 

 eral size and shape, if not actually of iron. 



That iron tools are the best, considered from the point of view of 

 the finished product made with them, is very doubtful; it is so hard 

 and unyielding in comparison with bone or antler as to tend to bruise 

 the edge of the obsidian; but, on the other hand, it keeps the point 

 better and in that way saves time. With these facts in mind let us 

 briefly consider what actually takes place when Ishi goes to work. 



THE TOOLS EMPLOYED 



Given a nodule of flint or a lump of obsidian, Ishi, in making a 

 notched arrowpoint, let us say, employs three distinct processes, for 

 each of which special tools ordinarily are required. The first process 

 involves the division or breaking up of the obsidian mass to obtain 

 suitable thin and straight flakes; the second process consists in 

 chipping the selected flake to the size and shape of the arrowpoint 

 desired; and the third and final process embodies, among other things, 

 the notching of the base of the point to facilitate its attachment to 

 the arrowshaft. 



For the first process, that of dividing the obsidian mass, an 

 ordinary hard, water-worn bowlder may do, especially if only small 

 flakes are wanted, the obsidian being broken up or a flake struck 

 from it by a direct blow. But if a large spearpoint or knife-blade is 

 ultimately desired, an intermediate tool is needed. This is apparently 

 (Ishi never made one for me to see) a short, stout, blunt-pointed 

 piece of bone or wood serving as a sort of punch and sometimes as a 

 lever. As a matter of fact, what is wanted in the case of producing a 

 large implement is not the division of the obsidian mass but the 

 trimming down of this mass by the detachment from it of all un- 

 necessary portions. A direct blow with a hammerstone might be 

 fatal to the obsidian core being thus shaped, while an indirect blow, 

 delivered through this punch, the same being held at a selected spot 

 and angle, has some chance of success in removing the superfluous 

 portions without shattering the whole piece to bits. A hammerstone 

 then, or a hammerstone together with a punch, are the tools required 



f399] 



