344 THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY 



and points for drills were made of it. Its keen edges made it 

 admirably suited for these purposes. It was obtained from the 

 quarries at Fort Erie, Williamsville and North Buffalo, and from 

 the till of the glacial moraines. It was fractured by means of 

 stones used as hammers, flaked by means of hand hammers, and 

 chipped into shape by means of tiny hammers and, probably, of 

 chipping tools made of bone or antler. 



Diorite, trap and other volcanic rocks were used to make 

 axes and chisels, gouges, hoe blades, adzes, pestles, mullers and 

 hammers. These rocks must have been imported, for they do 

 not occur in the region, either native or, seemingly, in the till. 

 They were pecked into shape with heavy hammers, and while 

 some were left rough, the most were ground and polished, by 

 rubbing on sandstone. 



Sandstone was employed mainly as an abrasive in grinding 

 and polishing other stones. From it were made the grindstones 

 and whetstones used in sharpening and polishing stone tools. 

 Occasionally chisels or axes were made of a fine grained variety. 



The local Hamilton shale is very soft and friable, yet small 

 chisels were occasionally made of it. Small perforated discs of 

 shale are sometimes found on the village sites. 



Quartz and chalcedony, though not native to the region are 

 sometimes found on village sites, but more frequently on camp 

 sites. They are usually made up into points and had evidently 

 been brought here and lost by hunting parties. 



The Indians of all the villages used bone in making a large 

 variety of articles. Awls and pins, fish-hooks, scrapers, points 

 of weapons, beads, pendants, and many other artifacts, the -use 

 of which is unknown, are found in great numbers in the refuse- 

 heaps and graves of the villages. Bone articles have never been 

 found on a camp site in this region. Their presence on village 

 sites and their absence on camp sites may be due only to the 

 fact that on the village sites they have been protected in the 

 graves and middens there, while, because these are absent from 

 the camp sites, all frail articles have been destroyed. 



The bone used was obtained from the animals which had 

 been killed for food. Bones of practically all the animals, some 

 birds, and some fishes, were utilized. It was cut into shape 

 with stone tools, and polished and sharpened on grindstones. 



