ARCHAEOLOGY. 47 



the drift only in small amounts as it is too soft to resist the wear to which 

 it is subjected in such transportation. Hematite for paint and sundry 

 small tools or objects of unknown use, like cones or hemispheres, and 

 cannel coal for ornaments, could be obtained in the south-eastern part of 

 the state and in West Virginia. Shells, for domestic use, beads, and 

 wampum, abound in waters containing lime in solution. Flint in beds 

 from a few rods to several square miles in extent, replaces limestone in 

 all the Carboniferous, and to a less extent in the Devonian formations. 



No great labor was involved in procuring any of these except the 

 last; shells were obtainable from any convenient stream, and the minerals 

 could be gathered wherever they occurred on the surface or were exposed 

 by erosion. 



In working stone, the artisan, after selecting one as close to the shape 

 of the desired object as he could find, with a tough pebble as a hamme r 

 went over the surface of his inchoate implement, chipping off angles or 

 projecting parts, pecking small flakes from such portions as required little 

 alteration, until it was as near complete as it could be made by such 

 means. Then with a piece of coarse sandstone he ground off the pitted 

 surface, concluding his work, if he so wished, by polishing with a stone 

 of finer grain. If an edge or groove were required, it was often made 

 before the remainder of the specimen was finished. Axes were grooved 

 entirely or partly around to afford a secure hold for a handle, which was 

 often tightened by a wedge driven in on one side that was flattened or 

 hollowed out for this purpose. Pestles frequently had a depression at the 

 center of the base, for cracking nuts or to prevent the grain from flying 

 from beneath them when struck. Hatchets or celts were of various 

 shapes according to their required use. The hammers themselves were 

 sometimes worked into spheres which, either with or without grooves, 

 were utilized as slung-shots, club-heads, or sinkers for use in fishing. 

 With soft or brittle stones the rubbing process may have been more used 

 than the hammering. Shell, bone, or cannel coal were cut to proper 

 length with sharp or jagged flint when necessary, and rubbed smooth with 

 sandstone; they could not well be pecked or chipped. Hematite was 

 sometimes chipped into form, but usually ground, the powder being used 

 for paint. The different varieties of jasper, chalcedony; hornstone, and 

 other nearly pure siliceous rocks, commonly placed under the generic 

 name of flint, demanded different treatment. Large implements, not 

 requiring careful finish, were made by knocking chips from nodules or 

 blocks with stone hammers, working from the edge of the piece toward 

 the center. The same method was followed with smaller specimens until 

 reduced as near as possible to the desired size and shape, when they were 

 completed with a piece of bone, horn, or other tough substance in which 

 a notch or crease was cut to give a purchase. This being set against the 

 edge of a flint, flakes were split off by quick forcible pressure. The 

 character of the work determined the size of the tool, and degree of force* 



