BUFFALO SOCIETY OF NATURAE SCIENCES 343 



on Buffum Street. Several silver brooches are said to have 

 been found with some bodies, probably Onondagas, on the Pot- 

 ter Road near the ford, in West Seneca. A silver coin of the 

 last part of the eighteenth century and a copper penny of 1797, 

 found, one on Site No. 35, West Seneca, the other on Site No. 

 8, Buffalo, may, or may not have been lost by Indians. Yet 

 these sites were occupied for upwards of sixty years by a numer- 

 ous population. 



Primitive Artifacts. 



Primitive artifacts, unaccompanied by European articles, 

 are found on all the small camp sites on the Niagara Frontier; 

 in refuse heaps; on the small village sites at Fort Erie and on 

 Grand Island; on Site No. 109, and Site No. no, Bertie, Ont. , 

 on several sites on Cattaraugus Creek; and on the great Wenro 

 village sites, No. 7 Buffalo, and No. 35, West Seneca. These 

 all seem to have been inhabited by people unacquainted with 

 Europeans. 



Primitive artifacts can most easily be classified according to 

 the material from which they are made. Thus there are arti- 

 facts of stone, of bone, of antler, of tooth, of shell, of clay, of 

 skin, and of vegetable material. Because the articles made of 

 stone were more nearly imperishable, more of these have been 

 found than of any other material. It does not necessarily follow 

 that the large proportion of the Indians' artifacts were made of 

 stone. On the contrary, a careful study of the articles found 

 leads one to assume, that the large proportion was not made of 

 stone, but of other materials. 



Artifacts Made of Stone. 



The Indians of the Niagara Frontier made use of chert, 

 sandstone, and shale, which they found in the local outcrops; 

 and of slate, quartzite, chalcedony and various volcanic rocks 

 which they obtained from other regions. 



Chert was employed almost entirely for the points of mis- 

 siles and the blades of cutting tools. Points for arrows, javelins 

 and harpoons; blades for knives, scrapers, hoes and war clubs; 



