72 
Mortars 
A few small stone mortars, one of them hollowed on both sides, have 
been found on Algonkian sites. They are more abundant on Iroquoian 
sites, ranging from small, portable ones to others in the tops of large, 
stationary boulders. 
Adzes 
Adzes, which have flat backs and are asymmetric as viewed from the 
narrow sides, are common at most Algonkian sites. Many of them are not 
distinguishable from some of those found on sites of other cultures. One 
type, however, is distinctive (Plate VI, figure 2), consisting of long, in 
some cases slender, flat-backed blades, convex from end to end on the 
front, on both narrow sides, and from side to side, the last making the 
blade half-round in cross-section. The cutting edge, which is mostly 
convex, is narrower than the middle of the adze, but in most cases slightly 
wider than the poll. Specimens from Tadoussac, Quebec, are narrower 
but of the same general type, although a few have a triangular cross-section. 
Specimens of another type are widest at the cutting end, whence they 
taper to the poll, and have all the angles rounded. A few have a cutting 
edge at each end; others are slightly grooved, one being unique in having 
another groove in line with the longer axis of the blade; one is fluted; and 
another has three knobs on the front, like some of those from the Maritime 
Provinces and New England states. 
Adzes are found on all Iroquoian sites and are as abundant as at 
Algonkian sites, as many as one hundred being from one site. 1 In many 
cases they cannot be distinguished from Algonkian specimens. Some are 
double-bitted, a few are grooved, but none is fluted or knobbed. 
Small, Chisel-like Specimens 
Very few small, narrow, chisel-like specimens, with flat back and 
sharp cutting edge at one end, are found on Algonkian sites, but they are 
common on Iroquoian sites. 
Gouges 
Gouges resemble adzes, but have the back partly (Plate VI, figure 3) 
or entirely hollowed (Plate VI, figure 4), the latter being less common than 
the first type. Some of them are so slightly hollowed that it is difficult to 
distinguish them from adzes. Many of them decrease slightly in width 
and thickness toward the poll; others bulge in the middle. The poll is 
mostly narrower than the cutting edge; one is slightly flaring. The 
cutting edges are mostly convex, a few only being straight. They are 
from 2\ to 15 inches long, but only a few of the long ones are very slender. 
They are half-round, triangular, quadrangular, and trapezoidal in cross- 
section. A few are grooved, some of them across the front, and one is 
provided with a seat for the attachment of a handle. The precise use of 
gouges is unknown ; their shape suggests that they were used to hollow out 
wooden utensils, for which the curved cutting edges are adapted. They do 
not seem fitted for smoothing plane surfaces. 
*Parker: Arch. Hist., N.Y., op. cit., p. 249, says adzes are less common than celts (ungrooved axes) on Iro- 
quoian sites in New York state. 
