38 



JOUKNAL, E.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. VIII. 



the following articles belong to the oldest stratum of 

 remains. 



25. A smaller pair of stones, of exactly similar shape to 

 the above, were probably used for preparing medicines. 

 Stones of this kind, but without the legs, are still employed 

 for this purpose. 



26. A knife of iron, in fragments, for cutting up vege- 

 tables, &c. Articles of this shape are now in use in some 

 villages, I am told, fixed by the thick end in a sloping 

 position in a piece of board. The blade slopes away from 

 the person using it, who holds the board steady with his 

 feet. The knife is about 1*4 inch broad. The blade is 

 straight, and bevelled off straight at the point from the 

 edge to the back. 



27. Part of a curved knife, in pieces, may also belong 

 to this class. The cutting edge is the inner one, and the 

 breadth of the blade is 1-1 inch. This knife was also used 

 for cutting vegetables, &c. 



28. A small earthenware weight and part of another, 

 used for twisting thread. In shape they are elliptic spin- 

 dles, with a deep broad groove round their middle at the 

 minor axis. The thread being attached to this groove, the 

 weight is made to revolve rapidly, so as to twist the strands 

 of the thread. Another weight used for the same purpose 

 is made of a slightly different pattern. 



Tools. 



Excluding hammers, of which none have been seen, a 

 good series of tools and implements has been obtained ; 

 and nearly all, with the exception of the carpenters' chisels, 

 closely resemble those now in use. Even carpenters' 

 chisels, like those discovered, are still employed in a few of 

 the less-advanced jungle districts. Some of these tools 

 were found scattered singly in the soil," but others were 

 procured, two or three together, near the houses. I dis- 

 covered a 6 jumper,' or chisel for boring wedge-holes in stone, 

 about 14 feet below the surface of the ground, buried under 

 an overturned plate, where its owner had apparently hidden 

 it. The plate was partly exposed in the side of the cutting, 

 and I first bared it in order to find if it was unbroken, 

 which was not the case, though all the fragments were in 



