53 
piece of antler about 4J inches long, and about 1 by f inch in diameter 
and oval in cross-section, with a conoidal socket, 1^ inches deep, for the 
reception of some kind of tool in the larger end. On one side of the 
smaller end of another simple type of antler handle (Plate XIV, figure 
10) is a long, narrow socket, about ^ inch wide and \ inch deep, for the 
reception of a blade, in which respect it is like the handles of some Eskimo 
knives. Part of the socketed end of this handle has been ground flat. 
Three other antler handles have sockets cut into the sides, apparently for 
the reception of beaver tooth chisels or knives. One of these (Plate XIV, 
figure 6), made from a curved section of an antler, and, as is suggested 
by the marks of cutting on both ends, unfinished, has an oblong, deep 
socket about If inches long, -§ inch deep, and wide enough to receive a 
beaver incisor. Another handle consists of an antler beam with a shallow 
groove cut into the side at one end, apparently also for the reception of a 
beaver incisor, the curve of the handle being in the same direction as that 
of the tooth (Plate XIV, figure 7). The handle in Plate XIV, figure 8, 
has a curved socket, about J inch deep, for the reception of a beaver incisor 
chisel or knife. The tooth was probably held in place by lashing after 
gluing or gumming it in place, the base of the socket holding the tooth 
against the major movement resulting from its use. There is a hole 
through the handle about one-fourth of the way down from the top, but 
its edges show no signs of wearing. Fifteen other handles, most of them 
apparently in process of manufacture, and some in a broken condition, are 
of another type. All of those that are sufficiently whole to enable one to 
get an idea of the shape, have sockets at the largest end; this end in some 
cases being part of the beam, whereas the more slender part is that of 
the tine. Twelve specimens have a perforation through the handle at right 
angles to the socket, the hole in one of them being considerably worn, 
probably from the chafing of the thong that held the tool or blade in place 
in the socket. The socket of one handle was made by sawing from the 
narrow sides, leaving a long, narrow cleft. Other sockets were made by 
removing the soft, cellular part of the antler, the material possibly being 
first softened by boiling in water. In three handles the socket extends 
beyond the transverse holes; it is very deep on the apparently unfinished 
specimen seen in Plate XIV, figure 9. One handle, made from a tine 9^ 
inches long, retains the slightly used, or perhaps worked tip. The smaller 
ends of five other specimens have been left in a broken condition; another 
has the point severed by scoring and breaking. The blades for which these 
handles were made were probably held in place by lashing with a thong, 
as it is scarcely likely that the transverse holes were intended for the 
reception of a pin; but it is hard to say what kind of blades were inserted 
in these handles. The only objects with ends that would fit some of the 
sockets are the perforated bear canines described under “ Pendants/’ the 
pointed ends of which may have been used to make lines on pottery/ The 
writer knows of no other artifacts of the same type from Iroquoian sites 
in Ontario, but a somewhat similar specimen, described as a knife handle 
v as found at a Cayuga site in New York (Skinner, 4, Figure 9). 
