; .Chisels, Long, slender, celt-like imple- 
ments of stone or hard varieties of bone, 
with narrow cutting edge, and round, 
rectangular, elliptical, or half -elliptical 
in section. Those of stone, mainly pre- 
historic, are rarely more than a few 
inches in length. Some specimens are 
largest at the top, gradually tapering to 
the edge, but most of them decrease in 
size in each direction from near the mid- 
dle. Some have hammer marks on the 
blunt end, others are polished at the top, 
while a few are sharp at both ends. It is 
probable that their primary intent was 
for woodworking, though they are nu- 
merous wherever steatite vessels were 
made, and the marks of their 
use are seen on the unfinished 
product and on the worked sur- 
faces of the quarry face. These 
soapstone cutting tools have 
usually been flaked into the 
desired form, the edge only 
being carefully ground. In the 
lower Ohio valley and in the 
Southern states chisels are gen- 
erally made of chert; tow r ard 
the n., where glacial material is easily 
procured, they are of diorite, syenite, 
or other tough rock. Chisels of stone 
were in common use among the wood- 
working tribes of the N. W. coast, but 
these are now almost wholly superseded 
by chisels of metal. While not so abun- 
dant as celts (q. v. ), from which they 
can not always be distinguished, they 
have practically the same distribution. 
See Fowke in 13th Rep. B. A. E., 1896; 
Holmes in 15th Rep. B. A. E., 1897; 
Rau in Smithson. Cont., xxii, 1876. 
(w. H. H. g. f. ) 
Stone Chisel; 
Ala. (1-5) 
