1870.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 17 



It is one of the great characteristics of the stone age pottery, that 

 only straight marks, made with the nail, or a piece of shell or 

 stone, are seen on them ; irregular cnrved lines sometimes occnr 

 in the neolithic period, or the later stone age ; circles and regular 

 curved lines are added to those simplest ornaments during the bronze 

 age, and figures of animals, &c. &c, appear in addition to the former 

 in the iron age. — Thus we may say that we have on the Andamanese 

 potteries patterns represented, which were used in Europe during 

 the neolithic period. 



4. The fourth kind of articles found in the Andamanese shell- 

 mounds, and worthy of notice, are those of stone implements. I have 

 already mentioned that there is a large number of stones intermix- 

 ed with the other things forming the mound. Examining the 

 broken shells and split bones, it became evident that the fractures 

 were made with some kind of a rough instrument, for many of the 

 shells appeared to have been hammered at for some time till they 

 were successfully broken. There was no difficulty in finding 

 among the stones a large number which were evidently employed 

 as a kind of a hammer in that operation, others were much like rude 

 hatchets, knives, &c, &c, used in being fastened to a piece of wood, 

 or such like. It certainly appeared remarkable that nearly every 

 second stone which was picked up, indicated that it had been used 

 some way or other \ for the fractures could not possibly be attributed 

 to a mere weathering off the surface. Mr. Roepstorff extracted 

 among others on the spot a beautiful polished celt of the usual tra- 

 pezoid form, about 2^ inches long, laterally compressed, narrower on 

 one end, broader on the other, and with a sharp edge ground down 

 from either side. This specimen was indistinguishable from any 

 of the European, or Indian celts of the so-called neolithic period. 



Since this discovery, the same gentleman forwarded to me another 

 specimen, about S inches long, nearly of equal breadth on both ends, 

 and with a sharpened edge on one of them. Beside this a small, but 

 typical, arrow head was found. All these materials are of a tertiary 

 sandstone, which is almost the only rock to be met with in this 

 neighbourhood of the harbour. These celts, &c, clearly indicate that 

 they were used by the Andamanese as weapons of the chase, or as 

 implements in opening the shells, &c, &c. They could, however, 



