27 
the point to symmetrical proportions; others show rubbing and polishing. 
The shallow groove around the basal end of the point in Plate I, figure 17, 
may have been the beginning of the work of reducing the thickness of this 
part of the point, with the intention, perhaps, of producing a flaring base. 
The fact that some of the points are warped suggests that the tines from 
which they were derived were originally bent. It is possible that in order 
to save the labour of straightening the bent tines by whittling they were 
softened by immersing in boiling water and then straightened. 
SONE AND ANTLER POINTS WITH CHANNELLED BASAL ENDS 
Three bone and antler points with channelled basal ends for insertion 
in arrow-shafts were found. The upper end of the bone point in Plate I, 
figure 11, is spatulate and the basal portion is shaped like the tail of a fish. 
The butt is wedge-like and bears a longitudinal groove about f inch long, 
which was probably intended as a seat for one side of the cleft end of the 
arrow-shaft. It is about ^ inch thick. There is a similar specimen from a 
Huron site in Simcoe county in the Tache collection, Laval University, 
Quebec. 
Plate I, figure 16, illustrates a smaller specimen of a different shape, 
made of antler. The tip is missing. The base is indented and both faces 
bear channels or longitudinal grooves about -} inch long and T V inch deep, 
to facilitate insertion into the split end of the arrow-shaft. It is about 
•^r inch thick. The third specimen (Cat. No. VIII-F-1 1603) is irregularly 
shaped and narrower than the one just described. It is grooved on both 
faces; the groove on one face is about f inch long and about ^ inch deep, 
and that on the other face is of about the same depth but is only about 
| inch long. 
These two points are almost unique among Iroquoian artifacts made 
of this material; the writer knows of only three other specimens. 
BARBS FOR FISH SPEARS MADE OF BONE 
Seventeen of the total number of specimens considered as pointed, 
awl-like implements may possibly have been barbs for fish spears. The 
specimens illustrated in Plate I. figures 9, 13, 19, described above _ as 
possible points for arrows, may likewise have been barbs, possibly being 
lashed to the flexible outer prongs of the trident type of fish spear, 
described by Le Jeune in the Jesuit Relations (VI, 311) and also figured 
and described by Boas in his “ Central Eskimo ” (Figures 453 a and b, and 
page 514). Three other bone specimens are of a different type and seem 
better adapted as barbs for three-pronged spears than those just described. 
The bevelled butt of one specimen with a moderately sharp point, if lashed 
to the outer prongs, would allow the barb to project at an angle of about 
30 degrees; or, in other words, the tip would project an inch beyond the 
side of the prong. This specimen is made from a piece of the front part 
of a deer's metacarpus and retains the marrow hollow of the bone on one 
side. An obtusely pointed specimen (Cat. No. VIII-F-9993a) with one 
face of the basal end ground down at a slant, would also have been suitable 
for the purpose. This bevel, if the specimen were fastened to a shaft, 
would make the barb project at an angle of about 20 degrees, with the tip 
