
Nov. 30, 1907.] 


| Ancient Skull pierced by flint arrow point (Illinois). 
went over the whole bundle of arrow shafts, 
which were then again firmly bound together 
n order that they might still remain straight. 
| Next he took two flat rectangular slabs of 
andstone, in each of which a rounded groove 
lightly larger than half the diameter of the shaft 
iad been picked, and placing the shaft in one 
f these grooves, and covering it by the other, 
te held the two blocks of stone in his left hand, 
nd pulled and pushed the shaft back and forth 
vith his right. In this way the shafts were re- 
uced and rounded to about the proper size, 
)recisely as the man of to-day, by the use of a 
iece of sandpaper, might bring a cylindrical 
tick down to the size desired. The arrow was 
ow ready for the final reduction. In a rib or 
ne dorsal spine of some large animal a hole 
lad been drilled, circular in shape, and of the 
irecise size which the arrow shaft was to be. 
Tolding the bone in the left hand, the arrow 
taker introduced the end of the shaft into this 
ole, and by a twisting motion passed it through 
te hole for its full length, thus forming a shaft 
lat was precisely cylindrical and absolutely 
nooth. .The shaft was now cut off to its 
oper length, and the notch was cut for the 
yw-string, while a sharp and jagged stone was 
/ed to saw out a narrower resting place for the 
one point. 
Previous to the attachment of the feathers 
e shaft was channeled by two grooves, com- 
jonly pressed into it by a blunt-pointed stone 
plement, or again by means of a _ bone, 
jrough which a hole had been drilled, circular 
|cept for protection on one side. One of the 
jooves was commonly straight, the other 
isted or zig-zag. Various explanations have 
en given of the use of these grooves; some 
ying that they were to admit the flowing of 
|: blood from the wound, others that the 
doves caused the arrow to cling more firmly 
the flesh. 
‘he feathers had already been prepared. 
ey were commonly, yet not always, taken 
m the wings or tail of birds of prey. In 
dern times they were always split, so that a 


FOREST AND.STREAM. 

portion of the shaft might be closely applied to 
the arrow shaft, the vane standing out at right 
angles to it. The feathers were commonly from 
two to four inches in length, but they differed 
greatly in the various tribes. Some ceremonial 
arrows, used in games or exhibitions, had very 
lcrg feathers. In others the feathers were quite 
short. 
In applying the feathers to the shaft the upper 
ends were attached by touching them with glue, 
and they were then wrapped to the shaft with 
wet sinew, laid on by revolving the arrow, while 
the hand which paid out the sinew thread was 
held motionless. The extremities of the feathers 
toward the notch for the bowstring were at- 
tached in the same way, and often a drop of 
glue was applied to the shaft of the feather, half 
way between the two ends, and this pressed 
against the arrow shaft kept the feather in its 
place throughout its length. 
The method of feathering the arrow already 
given is that of modern times. Further back, 
yet still within the traditional period, were other, 
more primitive, fashions of feathering. In what 
was perhaps the earliest known, the arrows were 
not provided with feathers at all, but a little be- 
low the shaft, the wood of the shaft was shaved 
up from the notch toward the head, all around 
the circumference of the cylindrical rod, the 
shavings being left sticking out from the arrow 
shaft. It is clear that if this were done at the 
proper point—and sometimes it was done at two 
points on the shaft—such bushy protrusions 
would tend to make the arrow fly more steadily 
and more straight than would a naked shaft. 
Arrows of this type have been used by children 
within the past fifty or sixty years, and it is 
interesting to note that we have independent 
accounts of them from different tribes. 
It seems probable that the first arrows with 
feathers followed immediately after this form. 
I am told that the earliest feathered arrows of 
some of the plains tribes carried two feathers, 
Opposite to one another. These feathers were 
not split and carefully applied, as are those of 
the present day, but the whole feather was used, 
and while one vane was crushed against the 
shaft. the other stood up at right angles to the 
shaft. The feather was now lashed in place at 
its upper and lower ends. For a time this 
method of feathering was in use, and served its 
purpose, but at length some genius among the 
primitive people is said to have suggested a 
new and better method. A feather was taken— 
as long as could be had—and was twisted about 
the arrow in a spiral, being lashed to the shaft 
with sinew at the upper and lower ends. This 
mode of feathering, like other early fashions, 
has been in use by children within compara- 
tively recent times. 
To complete the weapon and make it efficient, 
only the head was now needed. This, as has 
been said, was commonly of stone, preferably of 
flint. Since each arrow head required a great 
deal of labor to make it efficient, these stone 
points were highly valued. The material used 
varied with the locality; sometimes points were 
of obsidian or volcanic glass, sometimes of flint 
or quartzite, and some of much softer rock. 
The points made of the very hard rock were 
chipped out with much care and labor; those of 
softer stone might be ground into shape. 
In many localities good material for arrow 
points was hard to find, and certain tribes, 
which possessed such material in their range, 

Skull of White Man pierced by iron arrow point, near 
the Pecos River, in Texas, in 1870. 
often traded blocks of this stone to other tribes; 
so that to-day hundreds of miles from any lo- 
cality where obsidian may be found, one may 
sometimes come upon a few flakes lying on the 
ground, which show him where some ancient ar- 
row maker had been working with this material 
which had come from so far away. 
It was a common practice for the arrow 
maker, before beginning work on a block of 
hard rock from which he intended to knock off 
the flakes which were to become arrow points 
or knives, to sweat the block by burying it in 
wet earth and then building a fire over it. The 
object’ of this was to make evident all cracks 
and checks in the stone, so that allowance might 
be made them when the came for 
working it. 
If the block was large the workman placed it 
on the ground on a piece of parfleche between 
his knees, and knocked off the chips one by 
one, turning the block as he worked, and finally 
reversing it, and then knocking off the flakes 
from that portion that had previously rested on 
the ground. Methods of treating smaller blocks 
are indicated in the accompanying figures after 
Messrs. Holmes and Walter Hough. 
Some of these flakes were not suitable for ar- 
for time 
row heads; some were adapted for knives, 
others could be used only as scrapers, or to 
serve as blades to be lashed to the flesher. 
Those likely to make good arrow heads were 
perhaps still further reduced by light blows of 
a small hammer until they were roughly shaped. 
All this was the preparatory and the rough 
The opportunity for the arrow maker to 
show his skill followed. Taking in the palm 
of the left hand a piece of buckskin large enough 
to cover it and protect it while holding the sharp 
flint, he fitted to the other hand a piece of hide, 
something like a sail-maker’s palm, and used 
for the same purpose. He took a tool 
about four inches long, a straight piece of deer 
work. 
now 
or antelope horn, or a bone sometimes naked 
or again set in a handle of wood, and pressing 
the point of this tool against the side of the 

Ancient Human Vertebra pierced by quartz arrow point 
(Dakota). y 

