Hammerstones. These vary from simple pebbles picked up and used in the rough, showing merely a battered edge or edges acquired by use, to the pitted forms. They are generally mere pebbles with a pit pecked on two opposite sides, perhaps to aid in grasping with the thumb and forefinger. Some have battered edges, but many have not, suggesting, when round and regular, a use as gaming or "chunke" stones, or as implements- used only in pounding some soft substance. Hammerstones, pitted on one side only, and others with many pits on all sides, occur. These latter may have had some special use, and are not to be confounded with the large flat, slab-like stones having pits only on one side, found in other regions, and perhaps used as receptacles for holding nuts while cracking them. While these are common in the Iroquoian area, they are unknown here
Large stones, single or double pitted, resembling oversized hammerstones occur, and these may have been used as anvils in chipping flint or, for like purposes.
Grooved clubs or mauls, also showing use as hammers are found. These are rare, and are usually either rough pebbles, grooved for hafting, as in the case of the grooved axe, or grooved axes, the blades of which have become so battered, broken and rounded by wear as to preclude their further use for chopping.
Net-sinkers. On all sites near the water, either salt or fresh, net-sinkers show the prevalence of fishing. These are of two types. In one case a pebble is notched on opposite sides of either the long or broad axis; in the other a groove is pecked around the entire pebble in the same manner. The
latter type is comparatively scarce, as the former, being more easily and quickly made, was just as useful to the savage. The modern Cree and Ojibway, residing in the forests north of the Great Lakes, still use pebbles for this purpose, but those observed by the writer were not notched or worked in any way. Occasionally, sinkers notched on both axes are found in this region.
Hoes. These are usually ovoid implements, chipped from -trap rock and IP sometimes notched to facilitate hafting, and sometimes not. They usually show a slight polish on the blade, caused by friction with the ground. This stone type of hoe is the form mentioned by early writers; but perhaps hoes of shell, bone or tortoise shell, and wood were used also. None of these, however, are still in existence.
Hand Choppers. Pebbles chipped to an edge on one side, for use as hand choppers, occur. These are occasionally pitted on both sides.
Grooved Axes (Fig. 12). For the purposes of this paper, the writer, while aware that many grooved, axes are well made and polished, has, decided to include them under the head of "Rough Stone Articles," as by far the greater majority of the grooved axes and celts from this region lack the polish and finish belonging to other articles later to be described. Grooved axes are of two sorts: a, those made of simple pebbles, merely modified by grooving and chipping or pecking an edge; and b, axes which have been pecked and worked all over-and sometimes polished., The latter (b) may be said to include:
Grooved axes were hafted in various ways. During the summer of 1908, the eastern Cree living in the vicinity of the southern end of Hudson Bay told the writer that their ancestors, who made and used such axes, hafted them by splitting a stick and setting the blade in it, then binding the handle together with deer-skin (probably rawhide) above and below the split. No Specimens of the grooved axe in the original haft seem now--to be extant
from any locality in the East. From the battered appearance of the butts of these axes it may have been that they were sometimes used in lieu of mauls or hammers. It is possible that they may have been used in war. It is generally supposed that in cutting down trees, making dug out canoes and other kinds of wood-working, fire was used as an adjunct to the stone axe, the former being the active agent. The process of burning and charring having gone on sufficiently, the stone axe was used to remove the burned portion. However, some stone axes seem sharp enough to cut quite well without the aid of fire.
Celts (Fig. 12). Ungrooved axes or hatchets, usually called celts, are frequent throughout this area; but are nowhere as abundant as the grooved axe, especially near the southern border of the region. The grooved axe seems to have been the typical cutting and chopping tool of the local Algonkin. The widespread idea that the celt was sometimes used unhafted as a skinning tool, has no historic proof, but may possibly have some foundation. The Cree of the southern Hudson Bay region use an edged tool of bone for this purpose, a fact which is somewhat suggestive, although the implement differs in shape from the celt. Celts with one side flat and the other beveled to an edge may have been used as adzes. From the worn and hammered appearance of the polls of some celts, it is possible that many of these implements were used as wedges in splitting wood, after constant manipulation in their chopping capacity had permanently dulled their edges.
The celts of this region are, as a general thing, poorly made, a pebble of suitable shape having an edge ground on it with little or no preliminary shaping. More rarely, however, they were carefully worked all over by pecking and polishing, as in the case of the grooved axe.
In type, aside from the general division of rough and worked celts, we may add that most celts in this region have slightly rounded polls, the, bit broader than the butt, although some exceptions have been found. The forms are as follows: a, rough stone celts, pebbles with one end ground to an edge, but otherwise scarcely worked: and b, worked stone celts, which include the following:
In the Niagara watershed and extending eastward as far as the Genesee valley, an angular adze-like form having a trapezoidal cross section occurs. It is found principally in what was the territory of the Attiwandaronk,
Kah Kwah, or Neutral Nation (an Iroquoian tribe, early annihilated by the Five Nations). It also occurs, as has been stated, on the sites of villages of the Iroquois proper, but is not abundant. South of the Iroquois in central Pennsylvania, another form which does not occur in this region is the chipped celt, usually of flint or other hard stone. This form is, however, frequent in the country about the headwaters of the Delaware.
I In the "American Anthropologist," Vol. 9, No. 2, p. 296 et seq., Mr. C. C. Willoughby has figured and described the celts of the New England region with remarks on the methods of hafting employed. These seem to be two in number, and consist, in the case of the larger forms, of setting the blade through a hole in the end of a club-like handle, the butt or poll projecting on one side and the blade on the other as in Fig. 13, found in the muck of a pond bottom at Thorndale, Dutchess County, New York, a region once in the Mahican territory. Smaller celts were set into a club-like handle, the butt resting in a hole or socket.
Adzes. These seem to be of two kinds, the first and most simple being celt-like, but flat on one side, the other side being beveled to an edge' on one side. The second form differs in having a groove, which is not infrequently ridged. Occasionally, adzes with two parallel grooves occur. They were probably hafted by taking a stick at one end of which projected a short arm at right angles with- the shaft, laying the flat side of the blade against this arm and binding it. on with sinew, thongs or withes. The groove, of course, was of aid in securing the blade to the handle. Adzes of stone, hafted in this manner, have been obtained on the North Pacific coast. The, celt adze seems not uncommon, but the grooved adze is rare, neither form being nearly so abundant as in the New England region. Gouges. The stone gouge is rare, and seems always to be a plain, single-bladed affair without the transverse grooves so frequently seen in New England specimens, and hereabouts is always easily distinguished from the adze. Less than half a dozen specimens have been seen by the writer from this entire area, although probably quite as much work in wood was done by the New York coastal Algonkin as by the New England Indians.
Pestles. The long pestle occurs throughout the region of the Coastal Algonkin of New York, but is nowhere as abundant as in New England. They seem always to have been used with the wooden block mortar here abouts, and are mentioned by the early writers as part of the household equipment of the natives. They do not seem to have been used by the Iroquois to the north and west of this area either in early or later times. The wooden pestle of dumb-bell shape seems to have been preferred by them. The latter is used by the Canadian Delaware and may have taken the place of the long stone pestle to a great extent in this region.
Mullers, Grinders, and Polishing Stones. These are frequent, and consist merely of rounded pebbles, shaped and worn by use, probably most often in crushing corn. They are mentioned by De Vries as being used by the Indians with a flat stone slab for grinding corn when traveling. Some seem to have been used for polishing stone implements, but it seems hard to draw the line, as the appearance gained from friction would be quite similar. Such mullers and their attendant slabs, used for preparing corn meal have been collected within a few years in use among the Oneida Iroquois of New York, one specimen being in the American Museum collection.
Sinew Stones. These are pebbles showing grooves along the edges, popularly supposed to have been worn there by rubbing thongs and sinews across the edges to shape them. They occur generally, but are not common.
Stone Mortars. These are common, but rather local, some sites having none at all, and others a good many. One locality on Staten, Island is notable for the numbers found there, whereas they are rare elsewhere in that vicinity. They may be divided into the following types:
Pigments and- Paint-cups. Fragments of pigments such as graphite and limonite, showing the marks of scratching with scrapers, are found, which have apparently supplied the material for painting. Worked geodes ate common on many sites. These show traces of chipping in some instances and may have been paint cups. There is a tiny pestle-shaped pebble in the Museum collection from Westchester County, which is said to have been found with a geode of this type. The popular theory is that such geodes were used as "paint cups" and this seems probable.
Stone Plummets. These are very rare, in contrast to their abundance in the New England region. They consist usually of small worked egg shaped stones, grooved at one end, probably for suspension. The writer has seen but one from this area. Their use is problematic.
Semilunar Knives. Knives of rubbed slate, similar in appearance to the "ulu" or woman's knife of the Eskimo are found, though rarely, in this region. While sometimes ascribed to Eskimo influence or contact, it is possible that this form (which occurs throughout New England), judging by its distribution, may have been native to the eastern Algonkin also. The eastern Cree still use knives of this type as scrapers. Like most other forms common in New England, it is less abundant in the southern part of this area.
Stone Beads. Various pebbles generally perforated naturally are to be found on some sites; and may or may not have been used as beads or pendants. On Staten Island, at Watchogue, Mr. Isaiah Merrill once owned a number of square beads of pinkish steatite (?), all but one of which have been lost, and which he claims were found on his farm.
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