This division includes all arrowpoints or spearheads in the form of a triangle, whether the bases or edges be straight, convex, or concave. It might be that the concavity or convexity of the lines of the edges would, in strict geometrical nomenclature, exclude this from being called a triangle, but the author ignores this criticism and has kept the name given by many others and understood by all.
This class includes all kinds of triangles, whether equilateral or isosceles, and whatever may be the relation of length between the lines of base and edge. The edges may be convex or concave and the base with an exaggerated concavity, the two corners forming barbs, the arrow shaft the stem (Plate 32, figs. 3, 8, 20, 23, 26). Some of these implements are extremely rude, especially those of quartz and of jasper, which are refractory material, but many of these have been delicately and finely chipped.
Triangular arrowpoints, while found in great profusion in some localities, are not nearly so numerous throughout the country as other divisions. They appear in greater numbers on the Atlantic coast than in the interior. Dr. Abbott says that in a series of 3,300 arrowpoints from Mercer County, New Jersey, 1,428 were triangular. Although this may be the simplest form of arrowpoint, yet the author doubts if that be evidence of its having had any precedence in manufacture, or that there was any evolution from it to other forms. That there may have been relationship is granted. The arrow maker may have made indifferently the triangular and leaf-shaped, and he may have changed from one to the other, dependent upon the peculiarities of the material and the success with which he was able to work it, and the question of fashion and custom can not be ignored. It is thought these reasons are sufficient to account for the infinite variety of shape in arrowpoints.
The author has laid down no hard and fast lines of division in this classification. Some of the leaf-shaped may have had their bases and edges straightened (Plate 30, fig. 8), and the triangular had their corners rounded until the two divisions came together (Plate 32, figs. 1, 6); so also with the leaf-shaped and the stemmed. Some of the former have been notched near the base and thus been changed to stemmed, and so on through the entire system. This classification is made for the student and for convenience of description; therefore there will be overlapping of the dividing lines between the classes, as will be readily seen by referring to Plate 32. This must be accepted unless we would make infinitesimal divisions and every slight difference in form make a separate class. So each division includes all forms which approach nearest to it, even if they have peculiarities which make it difficult to harmonize. Some of the peculiarities in the triangular division are to be noted. One is where the convexity of the edges continued to the base brings a close resemblance to Division I, leaf-shaped, Class B, (Plate 30, figs. 1, 6). Another is the widening just at the base, by which the implement takes on a slight bell shape (Plate 31, fig. 10); another is where the edges of the triangle do not come in a straight line nor yet in a curved line from the point to the base, but make an angle midway between the two and give the implement a pentagonal form rather than strictly triangular (fig. 178). A few of the triangular forms have serrated or beveled edges, though this is rare. Occasionally the barbs on one side are longer than the other. There is no rule for the concavity of the base; it varies from almost a straight line to a depth equal to one-third of the length of the implement.
Dr. Rau, in the paper already mentioned, gave expression to the possibility of the triangular implement not having been an arrowpoint, but that the point may have been intended for insertion in a handle, and the base, being sharp, intended for a cutting implement and to be used for a chisel. (See p. 887.)
However, the author does not subscribe to this opinion nor adopt the theory. He believes these were, of all others, plain, simple arrowpoints and never intended for anything else, except, possibly, that the heavier ones might have been attached to longer shafts and used as javelins. This would be practically the same use as an arrowpoint, and no one, not finding the shaft or knowing its size or length, could know from any inspection of the implement this difference in its use. He does not think it could have been used as a chisel, for none of them that he has ever seen show any marks of use at the base. The greater proportion of them, as has been said, have concave bases, and especially is this true of those with sharp edges. A chisel with a concave base is unknown in our study of prehistoric man, and one can scarcely suggest the necessity for an implement possessing this peculiarity, whether its use be by the Indian or the white man, historic or prehistoric. If thus used as a chisel, that which is now regarded as the point becomes the stem and is to be inserted into its handle; this would make a broad-ended chisel with a concave edge. A cutting edge of such width would give great purchase as against the handle, and if one should attempt to use these outside edges or corners after the manner of a chisel, the implement would be in danger of breaking out of its handle, or, if this was avoided, would require a stronger fastening than we could imagine that it ever received at the hands of the Indian. No handle fastened with a thong, sinew, cord, or even bitumen would ever be able to hold this implement handled in this way when used as a chisel. One has but to look at the modern chisel with its long steel tang well fitted and driven hard into a solid oak handle with a collar to receive the bottom of the handle, making the entire implement as firm in its handle as though it was all one piece. Watch the mechanic as he uses his chisel, strong and well-handled as it is, and see the purchase it has when used on the corners, and anyone will shortly understand the impossibility of the ancient handling being strong enough to stand this use. The same objection applies with equal force against the use of the implement as a knife, even when handled at the base as is the arrow. It would inevitably twist and slip and become loose in its handle, and so worthless. The author has, throughout this paper, contented himself with stating facts and has not advanced theories of his own nor argued those of others; but in the present case he thinks a consideration of the situation and an investigation of the surroundings will show that these implements were not used on their edges as cutting or sawing implements, either as chisels or knives, but solely for thrusting or striking with the point as arrows; but whether as arrows they were weapons of war or javelins for game he has no opinion, and no amount of examination of the object itself serves to elucidate the theory.
TRIANGULAR, EQUILATERAL ARROWPOINT.
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 18060, U.S.N.M.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT OR SPEARHEAD, WITH STRAIGHT EDGES AND CONCAVE BASE.
Rhode Island.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 18057, U.S.N.M.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT, WITH CONCAVE BASE.
Chilmark, Massachusetts.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 18045, U.S.N.M.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT OF GRAY FLINT, WITH CONCAVE EDGES AND BASE.
Stillwater, Washington County, New York.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 6177, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 132 is almost an equilateral triangle. It is of the porphyritic felsite common to eastern Massachusetts, and is thick, heavy, and rudely made. Its point is sharp, but not the barbs. It is a good representation of the average and usual size and appearance of the triangular arrowpoint.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT, DEEPLY CONCAVE.
Oregon.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 12744, U.S.N.M.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT OF WHITE QUARTZ.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 8233, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 133 is one of the larger triangular arrowpoints or spearheads. It is of dark-gray flint, almost black. Its edges are straight and its base concave, symmetrical from every view, delicately chipped to regular and smooth point, edges, barbs, and base.
TRIANGULAR ARROWPOINT OF PALE GRAY FLINT, WITH CONVEX BASE.
St. George, Washington County, Utah.
Division II.
.
Cat. No. 20991, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 134 is quite thin, delicately chipped, showing very small serrations. The edges and base are concave. The points and barbs are fine and sharp. Fig. 135 is of white quartz, and for this material well and regularly chipped. It is quite symmetrical, with sharp, smooth point and edges. These appear mostly on the Atlantic coast.
Fig. 136 is one of those elegant and minute arrowpoints which have made Oregon renowned in the world of archæology. It is dark-brown jasper, is triangular in form, with long, tapering point. Its edges are very slightly concave, but the base is so deeply concave that the corners form long, slender barbs. Other specimens from the same locality have notches on the edges near the base, by means of which the sinew or cord fastens the head to its shaft, but this, and indeed none of the triangulars, have any such contrivance.
Fig. 137 is one of the triangular forms from Massachusetts. It is rude and irregular on edges and base.
Fig. 138, although with an elongated point, yet is to be classed as triangular. It is a marvel of flint chipping. Four and a quarter inches long and 
inches wide, it is nowhere more than one-eighth of an inch in thickness. This is as thin as any specimen can be expected. The base of this specimen is slightly convex; the edges are nearly straight. They and the point are fine and sharp.
Some of the specimens from the Pacific coast, figured in leaf-shaped, Class C, are as thin as this, but, as described, this was their natural thickness. They were separated from each other by a deposit of extraneous matter. This specimen is not of such formation. It has been wrought out of a solid block of flint, and was effected by those broad and thin flakes so often found, running from the edge, the point of pressure, to the center, widening into the form of a shell, and reducing the thickness of the implement almost as much at the center as at the edge. This system is the perfection of flint chipping. It shows a high degree of manual dexterity, and is one of the lost arts, for no workman known in historic times has been able to reproduce it.
The author has not made this class dependent upon the lines of the edges or bases of these implements; they may be either convex, straight, or concave, and neither of these will have any effect as to which class the implement is to be assigned. He has considered that it made but slight difference to the primitive hunter or warrior when about to use one of these implements, either as an arrowpoint, spearhead, or as a knife, whether it should be convex, straight, or concave, provided the point was sharp and the cutting edge keen and smooth. If to be used for piercing, the desideratum was a sharp point, the shape of the edge had no effect and was of no interest, and if as a knife and the edges to be used saw fashion, back and forth, it made little difference whether that edge should be concave, straight, or convex. As all stemmed implements presuppose a handle or shaft which incloses the stem, it makes equally slight difference whether the base of that stem should be concave, straight, or convex; therefore the author has not allowed any of these distinctions to influence his classification.
That these different classes and the forms on which they depend should overlap and run into one another would seem inevitable, thus making it sometimes doubtful to which class the implement should belong, and even difficult to decide correctly. The classification which is proposed, and indeed any classification which can be made is, as before stated, rather for the convenience of the modern student than from any intention of the primitive maker or user of these implements. While there may have been workshops which turned out certain forms of implements more than others, and while certain forms are found in given localities in greater numbers than in others, yet does not think that this was always the result of a well-defined intention on the part of the maker. If an arrowpoint, intended to have a convex edge, should by an unlucky stroke or an unintentional break be spoilt for that shape, it could still be remodeled and the edge made straight instead of convex, or concave instead of straight. So, also, that which was intended as a barbed arrowpoint, if one of the barbs should be broken, the barb on the other side could also be chipped off and the implement be made shouldered, but not barbed; and so on in other instances.
The author has bethought of what he considers a good illustration of the differences in these implements. In the show window of a modern shoe store will be seen shoes of every imaginable shape, size, kind, and variety; no two pairs of them are alike, running the entire range from large to small, from coarse to fine, from high to low, from thick to thin, from costly to cheap; yet they are all shoes, and all intended for the same object of foot wear. The workmen may all make the same kinds of shoes or make different kinds at different times, yet they still are all shoemakers. So it was with the arrow makers and the arrowpoints which they made; the difference in the arrowpoints may have been produced partly by the fashion of the locality, by the taste and ability of the workmen, or by the possibilities of the material; what may have been intended for one kind of arrowpoint may, by reason of the refractory material, have been changed to another, and the same workmen in the same workshop may, without having seriously intended, and perhaps without giving a good reason in every case, have produced nearly every kind of arrowpoint.
If the author made a separate class for every change in detail, he would have an infinite number of classes with infinitesimal differences. He has preferred to ignore these, make his divisions broad and plain, and temporize with the overlapping forms.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class 4
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 33.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class A.
Fig. 1. QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 34247, U.S.N.M. Truro, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. A. R. Crittenden.)
Fig. 2. PORPHYRY.
(Cat. No. 61428, U.S.N.M. La Paz, Lower California. L. Belding.)
Fig. 3. QUARTZ PORPHYRY.
(Cat. No. 18100, U.S.N.M. Rhode Island (from a cache of 100 similar objects. J. H. Clark.)
Fig. 4. BLACK QUARTZ PORPHYRY.
(Cat. No. 32183, U.S.N.M. Keeseville, Essex County, New York. A.W. White.)
Fig. 5. MOTTLED BROWN OBSIDIAN.
(Cat. No. 21372, U.S.N.M. Hupa Indian Reservation. Stephen Bowers.)
Fig. 6. QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 6111, U.S.N.M. District of Columbia. Mrs. M. H. Schoolcraft.)
Fig. 7. CHALCEDONY.
(Cat. No. 34417, U.S.N.M. Plantersville, Morehouse County, Iowa. Dr. B. H. Brodnax.)
Fig. 8. ARGILLITE.
(Cat. No. 19371, U.S.N.M. Trenton, New Jersey. Dr. C. C. Abbott.)
Fig. 9. WHITE QUARTZ.
(Cat. No. 19008, U.S.N.M. Griffin, Spaulding County, Georgia. W. F. Bailey.)
Fig. 10. BROWN JASPER.
(Cat. No. 34861, U.S.N.M. Island in Susquehannah River. F. G. Gailbraith.)
Fig. 11. OPALESCENT CHALCEDONY.
(Cat. No. 29683, U.S.N.M. San Miguel Island, California. Stephen Bowers.)
Fig. 12. WHITE QUARTZ.
(Cat. No. 6443, U.S.N.M. Farmingdale, Queens County, New York. J. C. Merritt.)
Fig. 13. QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 1275, U.S.N.M. Farmingdale, Queens Comity, New York. J. C. Merritt.)
Fig. 14. WHITE QUARTZ.
(Cat. No. 139271, U.S.N.M. District of Columbia. S. V. Proudfit.)
These implements are usually small. They are the simplest in form and, for the most part, rudest in execution; yet this is no signification that they were the beginnings or that there was an evolution from this to the more elaborate forms. This simplicity and rudeness may be accounted for in divers ways. The refractory material may have had something to do with it, also the rapidity with which they were required to be made and the unskillfulness of the arrow maker. They may have been made during his apprenticeship; he, who in his beginning made these simplest and rudest implements may have so acquired the art as afterwards to make the finest and most delicate.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF PORPHYRITIC FELSITE, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
La Paz, Lower California.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 61428, U.S.N.M.
These form Class A, the first of the division of stemmed arrowpoints. The existence of a stem implies its insertion in a shaft or handle; therefore there can be little or no doubt that these were intended to be thus used.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF PORPHYRITIC FELSITE, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
Edgartown, Dukes County, Massachusetts.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 18103, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 139 is one of the largest, as it is one of the best in workmanship, of its class in the U. S. National Museum. It is of porphyritic material, and comes from Lower California, therefore it affords no standard of comparison; for the types of implements in that country are different from those in other parts of the United States. It is lozenge-shaped, is so regularly pointed at both ends that it is uncertain which end was point and which was base.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF WHITE QUARTZ, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 5897, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 140 comes from Massachusetts, is similar in form, with its sharp point and base, and, curiously enough, is also of porphyritic material. These sharp-pointed bases of the class are unusual, if not rare, in any part of the United States. The more usual form of lozenge shape is shown in fig. 141, which is of quartz, and comes from Charles County, Maryland. The refractory character of this material may account largely for the predominance of this simple form and rude style of arrowpoint. It is inordinately thick compared with its width. It is three-fourths of an inch wide and five-sixteenths thick, nearly one-half. The leaf-shaped implements which have been described were five or six times greater in width than thickness.
The lozenge-shaped arrowhead with a rude but pointed stem without shoulders would appear impossible to fasten firmly in an arrow shaft by means of ligatures, which suggests that some kind of gum or adhesive substance was used to make it fast, though the author does not know that any such specimen has been found showing traces of gum. Because of the great size and rudeness of the base of some of these implements, they may have been too large to receive the small arrow shaft and so may have required comparatively large and heavy handles. Thus, despite their small size as a class, they may have served as spears or possibly knives—who knows? This is purely conjecture, based upon the appearance of the implement itself, and is liable to be overturned by the discovery of any new fact concerning it.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
East Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 6084, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 142, still lozenge-shaped, has no shoulder, but has a rudimentary base. The arrow maker has not, as in the former instance, worked the base to a point, but has left it one-fourth of an inch in width. This specimen is from Connecticut, is of the dark-gray flint common to that State, and is a fair sample of the average size of this class of arrowpoint.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
Keeseville, Essex County, New York.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 32183, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 143 is of black flint from New York, of larger size than usual, but carries with it the simplicity of form and rudeness of manufacture mentioned of the others. The stem is still lozenge-shaped, no shoulder, and again the rudimentary base which here is about one half an inch thick.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF PALE GRAY FLINT, LOZENGE-SHAPED.
Division III, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 57998, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 144 is a specimen from Tennessee which merely repeats the peculiarities of the former specimens.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class B.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 34.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class B.
Fig. 1. CHERT.
(Cat. No. 6802, U.S.N.M. Ohio. J. H. Devereux.)
Fig. 2. ROUGH IRONSTONE.
(Cat. No. 7007, U.S.N.M. Dennysville, Washington County, Maine. Benjamin Lincoln.)
Fig. 3. ARGILLITE.
(Cat. No. 18004, U.S.N.M. Connecticut. J. H. Clark.)
Fig. 4. DARK GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 19356, U.S.N.M. Mineral Springs, Arkansas. Dr. E. W. McCreary.)
Fig. 5. WHITE CHERT.
(Cat. No. 99307a, U.S.N.M. Boone County, Missouri. G. W. Clements.)
Fig. 6. QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 748, U.S.N.M. District of Columbia. James Webster.)
Fig. 7. ARGILLITE.
(Cat. No. 137563, U.S.N.M. Trenton, New Jersey. Thomas Wilson.)
Fig. 8. WHITE FLINT.
(Cat. No. 59473, U.S.N.M. Hancock County, Illinois. M. Tandy.)
Fig. 9. PALE-BROWN TRANSLUCENT CHALCEDONY.
(Cat. No. 59002, U.S.N.M. Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico. Capt. M. Wheeler, U. S. Geological Survey.)
Fig. 10. QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 139253, U.S.N.M. District of Columbia. S. V. Proudfit.)
Fig. 11. BLACK OBSIDIAN.
(Cat. No. 34564, U.S.N.M. Stockton, San Joaquin County, California. L. Belding.)
Fig. 12. PINK CHERT.
(Cat. No. 43032, U.S.N.M. Stockton, California. L. Belding.)
Fig. 13. GREENISH-BLACK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 42650, U.S.N.M. San Joaquin County, California. L. Belding.)
Figs. 14, 15. STRAW-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 136960a, b, U.S.N.M. Labette County, Kansas. W. S. Hill.)
Fig. 16. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 17493, U.S.N.M. Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky. J. W. Pearce.)
Implements of this class are more numerous than those of any other division. There is this pronounced difference between them and any others we have described. The implements have two parts with different functions: (1) the blade which comprises the point and edges, and is for piercing or cutting, and (2) the stem, for insertion in a shaft or handle.
We can not imagine the use of the stem to an arrowpoint or spearhead which would not be intended for insertion in a shaft or handle. The leaf-shaped may or may not have been inserted in a handle; many of them we know were not. It was the opinion of Dr. Rau that in certain specimens the base had served as a chisel or scraper. But the stem had no other function than for insertion in a shaft or handle. This function was subject to great variations, and, as we shall see, there were many kinds of stems and great variability in the mode of attachment.
PREHISTORIC STONE ARROWPOINT INSERTED IN SHAFT AND TIED WITH FIBER.
Found in peat-moss of Giessboden, Switzerland.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF BLACK FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Plainfìeld, Windham County, Connecticut.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 18004, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 145 is one of the few specimens of ancient arrowheads found attached to its shaft or handle. It comes from the peat moss of Giessboden, Switzerland, and is figured in Keller’s Lake Dwellings.1 The handle is broken so that it is uncertain whether the implement was arrow or knife, but the bast or fiber with which it was lashed is still discernible. Similar specimens have been found occasionally in Ireland and in Germany.
Figs. 146 and 147 are the simplest and most pronounced of Class B, stemmed and shouldered, but not barbed. The stem is straight, with parallel edges and straight base; the shoulders are square and at right angles to the stem, and so give it almost a triangular appearance. The edges are convex and symmetrical, and the point on the median line. They are from 3 to 5 inches long, and inserted in a proper shaft would make a good spear or lance, which in the hands of a strong and active man would be a most effective weapon. Many of the implements, all those of Class C, seem to have been shouldered with the idea of making a barbed weapon, but the first intention was to make a stemmed weapon.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island. Division III, Class B.
.
Cat No. 18053, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Groveport, Franklin County, Ohio.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 7678, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 148 is impure flint bordering on chert or hornstone. The implement is rude and thick, the edges are rough and untrimmed, and the flakes have been large and coarse. Whatever of this may be charged against the material, it is certain that it might have been better finished with more time and greater skill, and, there-fore, we must consider it as an incompleted specimen.
Fig. 149 is of hard gray slate. It is extremely rough in its chipping, although the outline may be good. Its stem is straight and parallel, the base concave, the shoulders, instead of being square, are at an upward angle, the corners project far beyond the edges so that they have the appearance of barbs projecting horizontally and not perpendicularly. They never could have been intended to serve as barbs and prevent the extraction of the weapon from the pierced flesh. The edges beyond the corners or barbs are nearly straight, but slightly convex at the point. The workmanship is so rude and the material so refractory that it is with difficulty one can discover the flakes by which it was worked.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF GREENISH-GRAY HARD SLATE, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Georgia.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 19565, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Southold, Suffolk County (Long Island), New York.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 21208, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 150 is of white quartz from Long Island, New York. The material is in abundance, wrought into oval scrapers, and found in the shell-heaps on the eastern end of Long Island. Its stem and base are straight, the shoulders are slight and unsymmetrical, while the edges are straight and come to a point. The implement is exceedingly thick, the base being more than half as thick as it is wide. The workmanship is rude; one can scarcely see where any flakes have been struck off, and it would seem to have been broken to its present shape by blows given at random. We must remodel our ideas in regard to arrow shafts if we would have this implement inserted therein, whether to be fastened by ligatures or gum. It is probably unfinished.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Tennessee.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 8238, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 21153, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 151 is somewhat the same form as those just described, but its workmanship is better. It has been fairly well chipped, the flakes taken off are easily recognizable, and the edges all around are fairly smooth and sharp. It is of reddish jasper. The stem is straight and parallel, the base is straight, the edges from the base to the blade are slightly concave, forming the shoulders; while those from the shoulder to the point are convex.
Fig. 152 is of whitish flint from Texas. It is rude in its manufacture, quite thick compared with the width, the stem is straight, the base slightly concave, the shoulders but little more than rudimentary, and altogether it serves to emphasize the difficulty of inserting these implements in a shaft in such manner as to serve as arrows.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Plantersville, Morehouse County, Louisiana.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat, No. 34407, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF PALE GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
St. Mary County, Maryland.
Division HI, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 12185, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 153 is of bluish chalcedony from Louisiana. It is much finer and better made, thinner compared with the width, and would be much easier inserted in an arrow shaft or handle. Its stem is tapering, the base straight, the shoulders indefinite, the edges convex and coming together form a point.
Fig. 154 has the edges of its blade straight and not convex. The point and corners are somewhat rounded; it is shouldered but not barbed, the stem is expanding, and the base is slightly concave. Its size, length, and width, compared with thickness, place it on the border between an arrowpoint and a spearhead.
Fig. 155 is similar to fig. 151, just described. Though widely separated by distance, the former coming from Tennessee, the latter from Pennsylvania, they have great resemblance. Both are of jasper, with apparently the same style of workmanship. The base, stem, and shoulders of the latter are much the same as the former, except that they are accentuated. The stem is narrower, its lines more concave or slightly more expanding toward the base, where they form corners of an acute angle. The base is slightly concave where the other is straight. The implement is the same length as fig. 151, though narrower and thinner.
Fig. 156 is from Ohio. It, like the former specimen, is fairly well chipped, flakes plainly to be seen, and the edges and point comparatively smooth and sharp. The stem is straight, its edges parallel, and the base straight and square. The shoulders are formed after the same manner as fig. 151, preceding, and simply swell out so as to make a more pronounced shoulder than in that specimen. The edges are convex and coming together form the point.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF YELLOWISH-BROWN JASPER, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 84861, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF YELLOWISH-GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Brownsville, Licking County, Ohio.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 12487, U.S.N.M.
Figs. 157 and 158, the former from Tennessee, the latter from Massachusetts, are almost identical in form. The former is of gray, the latter of black flint. With exceptions of material, color, and size, they are the same. If they were to be compared by form only, scarcely anyone would be able to detect a difference between them. Their edges are straight and come directly to a point. Their shoulders are horizonal, not barbed; the notch which forms the stem is concave and carried to the base of the stem; the base is square and dressed to a smooth edge so that it can be inserted in a split arrow shaft, while the notches on either side afford excellent supports for attachment by ligatures.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Lincoln County, Tennessee.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 61123, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
South Dennis, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 18056, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 159 has a stem similar to figs. 157 and 158. The notch which forms it is concave, extending from shoulder to base and making an expanding stem with convex base. The edges are convex and, converging symmetrically, form a medium sharp point.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF BLUISH CHALCEDONIC FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Ohio.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 16482, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 9789, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
St. Clair County, Illinois.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 15323, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Edmondson County, Kentucky.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 59347, U.S.N.M.
The next two specimens (figs. 160, 161), while having stems shouldered and not barbed, belong to Class B, but represent a marked difference from the former specimens. While the edges of the stem are straight and parallel, the base is convex. No reason has ever been given for this peculiarity, but it is a noticeable one and involves another even less explainable. Why the stem of an arrowpoint intended for insertion in a shaft should be made convex instead of straight or concave, is a matter of but slight importance and need in itself excite no curiosity; but all bases of stems which are convex have been worn or rubbed, or in some way made smooth. They have not been polished or ground upon the sides, but have been operated in a reverse manner against the edge of the base, and have made it blunt and smooth and not sharp. It would be beyond the author’s province to say that this is universal, for no man could have had sufficient experience to justify such a statement, but in the U. S. National Museum thousands of such arrowpoints have been tested and 90 per cent or more of them have been found to be in this condition. No explanation has ever been given, nor has any been suggested. It is more marked in the cases of leaf-shaped implements which have been transformed into stemmed arrowpoints, leaving the convexity of the base unchanged. The points and edges seem to have had no share in the operation and they continue rough and sharp. Fig. 160 is of yellowish jasper, comes from Lincoln County, Mississippi, and is doubtless from the same jasper quarry which furnished the great number of jasper beads found there in a workshop by Mr. Keenan and described by him.1 Fig. 161 is the same form as the preceding. It is of white flint from Illinois, and is much finer and more delicate than the jasper one, but it has the convex base, the smoothed condition of which is quite perceptible. The next three figures (162-164) represent another form of base. The edges and points are the same as in other specimens. They are shouldered, but not barbed, and the stem at its base is the same as other stems; but instead of its edges being parallel and making a straight or square stem, they are convex and bring the base of the stem to a point. Fig. 162 is a good representative of this type. It is symmetrical; the chipping is not fine, but fairly well done; the base and shoulders are square, the stem contracting by convex edges, and the base pointed. Fig. 163 is from Tennessee, while the former is from Kentucky; but the material of both is the same quality of gray flint, and as the two States are contiguous, we may easily suppose that the American Indian who made these implements was not governed by State lines, and both points may have come from the same quarry. The base is pointed, made so by convex edges. Fig. 164 has the same contracted stem, but its edges are straight and not convex and its base is pointed. It comes from a locality far distant from the others, namely, California, showing that these forms were not confined to a given locality. It is well chipped, symmetrically formed, but has the projecting horizontal barb, as was described in fig. 149. It is long and slender, and could have penetrated the flesh of the game or enemy a distance of 
inches without interference from these horizontal projections.
STEMMED ARROPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 8914, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OP BLACK FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
San Miguel Island, California.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 15746, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Ohio.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 16481, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF DARK GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Tennessee.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 8238a, U.S.N.M.
The type of which the author is now to speak has given him more trouble in its classification than any other, and yet he has concluded to classify it as a stemmed arrowpoint, shouldered but not barbed, and has put it in Class B. The blades may be thick or thin, wide or narrow, edges concave, straight, or convex, points sharp or blunt, and so through all the variations. The stem is formed by notches made in the edges near the lower end which, with the notch, forms the base of the arrowpoint.
Fig. 165 is a representative of the type. It is of black flint; its edges are convex, drawing gradually to a point; the base is straight and as wide as the broadest part of the blade. Its base is formed by two notches made in each edge opposite each other and forming, so far as concerns the edges, a groove around the implement which may have been utilized for fastening the arrow shaft by a ligature. These notches are about one-fourth of an inch wide and as much deep, and are distant from the base about one-fourth of an inch, so that they have been denominated in some other classification as “notched on the edge near the base.” This notching has left the base its original width and unchanged, as though the notches had not been made nor the implement transformed from a leaf-shaped or possibly triangular arrowpoint into a stemmed one.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. NO. 8336, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 166 is much smaller than the former, but size does not seem to have affected this type of arrowpoint more than it has the others. The implement is symmetrical, edges are convex, and the outline can be traced past the notches to the base, and, but for the notches, it would have been a leaf-shaped implement of Class B, pointed at one end and concave at the base. The notches are about one-fourth of an inch wide and deep, and the distance from the base is about three-eighths of an inch. We will see in the next class how, evidently, some of these stemmed arrowpoints were made from leaf-shaped implements, by the introduction of these notches. In the present case the notches are horizontal and form shoulders but not barbs. In the next class (C) they will be at an upward angle toward the center, their shoulders form barbs, and they pass into that class and are not further noticed in this.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF WHITE JASPERY FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 32169, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 167 is of gray flint from Ohio. It is rather small and has the same horizontal notches, smaller than those noticed before, but the outline of the leaf-shaped implement is more apparent in it than in the others. That it was originally a leaf-shaped implement, transformed by the notches into a stemmed and shouldered arrowpoint, is satisfactorily shown from an inspection of the implement. It has the convex base which was referred to and described under fig. 160 as polished or rubbed smooth on its edge. This peculiarity is wonderfully well represented in the specimen now under consideration. The edge of the base is blunt and smooth, while the edges and point of the blade are rough and sharp as any ever were. There are some peculiarities appertaining to the implements and objects of prehistoric man which, by reason of their repetition, have become accepted facts, the explanation of which has as yet defied all theories of the most inventive imagination. This is one.
Fig. 168, instead of being leaf-shaped as have been some of the foregoing, was a triangular arrowpoint. Its edges are straight, and, approaching each other, form the point at an acute angle. The base is straight and square, but one-fourth of an inch above it toward the point are two notches, one on each side, about one-fourth of an inch each way, which transform it from a triangular into a stemmed arrowpoint.
Fig. 169, while belonging to the same class, has the peculiarity of three notches on the edges instead of one, as in all former illustrations. It is much larger than any of the others, its edges are straight, or nearly so, and, but for the notches which transform it into a stemmed implement, it would be nearly a triangular one. The base is straight and at right angles with the median line, the notches are about one fourth of an inch each way and separated from each other about one fourth of an inch. It would appear as though they might have been employed for three ligatures, or for ligature in three places, the farthest of which would be about 
inches from the base, thereby giving the handle that much more firmness and solidity in its attachment.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OP BROWN FLINT, SHOULDERED BUT NOT BARBED.
Dennysville, Washington County, Maine.
Division III, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 7007, U.S.N.M.
A type of arrowpoint belonging to this class has been found and identified by Dr. Abbott, with such peculiarities as demanded at his hands a separate and extended notice, which he gave in Primitive Industry.1 An illustration of this implement is shown in Plate 34, fig. 7. Dr. Abbott believes in the existence in America, and especially on the Delaware River (the valley of the Delaware), of a Paleolithic civilization which, of course, antedated that of the Neolithic or American Indian civilization. All, or nearly all, the Paleolithic implements found in the glacial gravel of the Delaware River at Trenton, New Jersey, have been of argillite. It is his belief that this material was used principally by Paleolithic man. The specimens under consideration are of argillite and much weathered, showing a high antiquity. They are now a light gray color, but originally and on the inside are coal-black. The stone of which they are made is hard, and they could be chipped to a sharp point and edge. Their chipping has been rude and the flakes comparatively large. They are long and narrow, their edges nearly straight, approaching until they form a point. The shoulders were nearly square, not barbed, the stem short, edges parallel, and base straight and square. Altogether it is rude and unattractive, but in its original condition of sharp point and edges it might have been a very effective weapon. Dr. Abbott asserts that the large proportion of these implements are found in the alluvial soil in proximity to the glacial gravel at a depth that proves their antiquity. Their number increases in proportion to the depth of the excavation for a certain distance, when they stop, while the Paleolithic implements proper continue to a greater depth. Dr. Abbott believes these implements to have been used as harpoons for the capturing of fish, and he cites, as evidence supporting his theory, the fact that they are nearly all found along the borders of the streams. He remarks the great similarity of these implements with those used for a similar purpose by the Eskimos, and cites corresponding implements and figures described by Sir John Lubbock.1 He propounds the theory whether the Eskimos may not have been driven down by the glaciers and occupied the territory of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, etc., or whether driven down or not, they may not, with their present love of cold or for other reasons unknown, have dwelt near the foot of the glacier in these States and followed it up in its retreat north, until they came to occupy the present boreal region. It would seem to be indisputable that the territory around the feet of these glaciers was occupied by man, if it had not been prior to their descent. The implements found in the Trenton gravels would seem to show this. If this be accepted, the question may be fairly asked, What became of this people; who are their descendants; and, after the retreat of the glacier and the exposure of the country north, what course of departure, extension, or migration did their descendants take? These theories are not yet demonstrated and may never be, but they are worthy of profound investigation and study.
The prehistoric man did not, in his manufacture of these implements, divide them into classes. The different forms were made according to the possibilities of the material, the dexterity of the workman, and the exigencies of the situation. The classification is now made solely for the purpose of enabling us in modern times to describe and understand them. Class C comprises those which have stems, shoulders, and barbs. The difference between the present class, C, and the preceding, B, is that the shoulders in the former were horizontal, at a right angle or more than a right angle to the median line from the base upward. In the present class the point forming the shoulder is brought downward toward the base, so that it forms less than a right angle to the median line; this has the effect of making the shoulder an acute angle, and this angle forms the barb. The implements of this class, taken in their entirety, may be of different forms; sometimes they may be leaf-shaped, sometimes triangular; they may have either convex, straight, or concave edges; the point may be sharp or blunt; the base may be concave, straight, or convex. All these may exist in this subdivision, provided they are stemmed, shouldered, and barbed. No argument is necessary to justify a class which includes so many forms as those just mentioned. If a separate division should be given to each of these different forms when accompanied by barbs, the same should be done when without barbs. This would create so many divisions as to become unrecognizable and practically useless. This classification is based on the salient points of difference.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cast, Cat. No. 98340, U.S.N.M. (Original in possession of Dr. J. L. DeWitt.)
The first illustration (fig. 170) presents a type of barbs by which they can be known and recognized throughout the description. It is a magnificent implement, translucent dark-brown chalcedony, and was found in a mound in Vernon County, Wisconsin. The figure is from a cast in the U. S. National Museum. The blade shows it to have been practically a leaf-shaped implement of Class B, one end pointed and the other convex. Whether it was originally thus, and afterwards transformed into a stemmed one, is unimportant and only a matter for conjecture. The notches have been made near the base, are V-shaped, and necessarily deep and wide; they form the edges of the stem nearly parallel and make it straight, neither expanding nor contracting. The V-shaped notch causes the shoulder to descend so that its junction with the outer edge forms an acute angle, and this acute angle forms the barb of the implement. The benefit of the barb in an arrowpoint or spearhead is that, having entered the flesh of the game or enemy, the barb prevents its withdrawal, as with the barb of the fishhook. That this form was somewhat a matter of taste, and not always for the utilitarian purpose mentioned, is apparent upon a glance at this illustration and the two following. In these three specimens the size of the implement is so great and, compared therewith, the barbs so small that they are insignificant in actual utility. The thrusting of either one of these large specimens into any known game or enemy would be sufficient to kill the animal independent of the use of the barbs or the withdrawal of the weapon. It goes without saying that these, and possibly one other in this class, were too large for any possible use as arrows, and perhaps as knives, and if they had any utilitarian purpose it could only have been as a spearhead. It is a matter for conjecture and investigation whether they might not have served for ceremonial purposes, or as some insignia of authority or command, as the staff of a marshal, the scepter of a monarch, or the mace in the House of Representatives of Congress.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD OF WHITISH CHALCEDONY, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Shreveport, Caddo County, Louisiana.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 10095, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 171 is one of these remarkable implements. It is white or whitish translucent chalcedony, impure to be sure, but still fine enough with its extraordinary size to make it a magnificent implement. But for the barbs it would be assigned to the leaf-shaped Class B. Its edges are symmetrically convex and, converging, form the point. The notches forming the barbs have been made perpendicularly upward from the base, and not, as usual, horizontally from the edge. The notches are half an inch wide and three fourths of an inch deep; they leave the barbs to be three-fourths of an inch long, descending perpendicularly almost even with the base. The base is straight and square; the stem has parallel edges, is straight and not pointed. The whitish chalcedony, the material of this specimen, is not rare in the locality in which this was found (Shreveport, Louisiana), although the mine or quarry from which the material comes has, it is believed, never yet been found. The author is the owner of fourteen such implements of the same material and the same general type, found in a cache in Pike County, Arkansas (see Plate 61). They were laid side by side, the edges overlapping and buried on the side of the hill in the solid yellow clay. The erosion by rains and wash brought the surface down to them, and they were found slightly protruding.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Crawford County, Wisconsin.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cast, Cat. No. 39016, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 172 is an enormous implement of the same class. The U. S. National Museum possesses only a cast of it, the original being in the possession of Mr. F. J. Miller, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. It is of brown jasper, and has been made from an immense flake of that material which has been struck off with a perceptible twist, as shown by the edge view accompanying. It is also rudely leaf-shaped, pointed at one end, the base nearly straight and square, the notches forming the barbs being oval or shell-like and made in the edges, not disturbing the base, although coming within a quarter of an inch of it.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD OF GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Saratoga County, New York.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 6159, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD OF GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 34581, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED SPEARHEAD, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 43134, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 173, though large even for a spearhead, does not compare in size with the enormous specimen just described. It is 
inches long, has somewhat the appearance of a leaf-shaped implement, although there is no evidence of its transformation. It is of flint and has been made from a nodule, the concentric bands of which are to be seen, the point of the base coming almost to the surface of the nodule. The edges are convex, the stem is slightly contracting, and the base is convex. The barbs are well pronounced and form an acute angle; they have no relation to the stem, but are attached to and form a part of the blade.
The blade is twisted from the right side at the base to the left side at the point. The twist is about equal to the thickness of the implement, and arises, not from the natural shape of the flake, but by chipping the edges all from one side. Whether this twist would give the missile a rotary motion as it was discharged from the bow, is a question examined in the division of peculiar forms, Class A, beveled edges, p. 931.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Orange County, Indiana.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 32440, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 174 appears to have been one of the leaf-shaped implements of Class B. It has a long, fine point, edges convex, base the same, with narrow notches in the edge near the base. The edge of the convex base has been ground down or worn smooth as described in figs. 160 and 161 of Class B, stemmed, Division III, p. 921.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF PALE BROWN FLINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Santa Barbara County, California.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 15281, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 175 has convex edges converging symmetrically to the point, the base is slightly convex, while the notches which have made it into a stemmed and barbed implement are at the corners formed by the junction of the edges with the base. The V-shaped notches make the expanding base, and change the shoulders into barbs. This specimen is from a mound near Naples, Illinois, excavated by Mr. J. G. Henderson. The mound and the associated objects are described in the Smithsonian Report of 1882, where this is fig. 13 a (p. 696). The material is translucent pale brown chalcedony. This is the finest specimen of flint chipping in the U. S. National Museum. There may have been others exceedingly fine and highly interesting, and it may be difficult to draw lines of comparison between the various degrees of fineness, but the author has never seen anything showing a higher degree of mechanical art and manual dexterity in flint chipping.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT OF DARK GRAY FLINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Sharpsburg, Washington County, Maryland.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 34583, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINT, SHOULDERED AND BARBED.
Oregon.
Division III, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 12680, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 176, though reduced in size, is of sufficient weight to give momentum to the arrow, and will probably secure greatest flight. Its edges are symmetrically convex and, converging, form the point. The base is slightly convex, while the notches which form the barbs are in the edge near the base.
Fig. 177 has edges slightly convex, which come together at the point with a wide angle, making the implement of considerable breadth in proportion to its length. The stem is contracting and the base pointed. The notches which have formed the barbs have been made in the base and not in the edge. They are V-shaped and are perpendicular to the plane of the implement. The barbs continue on the line of the outside edges, and the widest place is across their extreme points. The material is reported as pale-brown flint, but it has the peculiarity of a brilliant shining luster resembling the brightest patina. Whether it is really patina, or only vitreous material, the author has not been able to determine. The specimen is too precious to be broken in order to show its interior.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class A.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 37.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class A.
Fig. 1. LIGHT-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 18800, U.S.N.M. Elkton, Giles County, Tennessee. J. R. Irby.)
Fig. 2. BLUE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 13708, U.S.N.M. Perry County, Ohio. W. Anderson.)
Fig. 3. DARK SLATE-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 113684, U.S.N.M. Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio. Gerard Fowke.)
Fig. 4. LIGHT-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 30175, U.S.N.M. McKenzie, Carroll County, Tennessee. E. H. Randall.)
Fig. 5. LIGHT-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 58134, U.S.N.M. Fayetteville, Lincoln County, Tennessee. C. S. Grigsby.)
Fig. 6. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 8239. U.S.N.M. Tennessee. J. H. Devereux.)
Fig. 7. STRAW-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 99307, U.S.N.M. Boone County, Missouri. G. W. Clemens.)
Fig. 8. PALE-YELLOW FLINT.
(Cat. No. 19965, U.S.N.M. Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee. W. M. Clarke.)
Fig. 9. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 98375, U.S.N.M. Lauderdale County, Alabama. Frank Burns.)
Fig. 10. LIGHT SILVER-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 97641, U.S.N.M. Monteur’s Point, near Vincennes, Indiana. Robert Ridgway.)
Fig. 11. LEAD-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 32645, U.S.N.M. Murphysborough, Jackson County, Illinois. W. Anderson.)
Fig. 12. YELLOW FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171450, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 13. REDDISH-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171450a, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 14. BROWN JASPERY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171450b, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 15. DARK SLATE-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171450c, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 178 is barbed and, therefore, belongs to this class. It is broadest near the point. Its edges are of irregular convexity; there have been some others of much the same form as this, but their edges have been straight where this is convex, and instead of a curve there was a distinct angle, but these are considered only the peculiarities of the workman and to have served no particular end, while their rarity will not permit their being assigned a division by themselves.
Fig. 179 is one of the beautiful pale-green jasper specimens of diminutive size, delicate stem, and long, projecting, finely pointed barbs, peculiar to the Pacific coast, coming mostly from Oregon. It appears much smaller than its dimensions given in the legend would indicate. This is caused by its delicacy and fineness. Italy produces the only arrowpoints which compare with those of the Pacific coast in these fine qualities. The reader is referred to Plate 36 for other specimens.
This division includes those specimens which have such peculiarities as distinguish and separate them from the standard types. If the distribution of these specimens was general, or if they were found in numbers approximately equal with the others, they would themselves become standard types and each require a division of its own. It is because they do not belong to standard, types, and are restricted in number or locality, that they are assigned to this division.
The blades of the ordinary arrowpoint are usually chipped from both sides so that the edges are formed on the central line, and a cross section is elliptical. This Class A is peculiar in that the chipping by which the edge is formed is all done from one side, and the edge is thrown or beveled to the plane of the other side. A cross section will be rhomboidal, the two long sides being the width, and the two short sides or edges being the thickness of the blade.
It was for a long time believed that these bevel-edged arrowheads were simply freaks of the workmen, and were without signification or intention for particular purpose. Indeed that belief has not entirely passed away. Since beginning this paper the author, in order to demonstrate the truth of the matter, inaugurated a series of experiments. Selecting from the Museum collection a dozen or more representative specimens, he attached to each an arrow shaft, smooth, straight, without feathering, and the same size throughout. Repairing with these to the top of the tower of the Smithsonian building, he began by letting them drop straight to the ground, carried only with their own gravity, and next launching them in the air in every direction. He found a universal rotation. He pushed his experiments further by arranging these specimens in a sort of clamp of wire, the ends of which embraced the ends of the arrowpoints, care being taken to put the point of contact as near the center of gravity as possible. Thus held, the suspended or clamped implement was free to rotate longitudinally in either direction on the application of the slightest force. This machine was then used by pushing it with its clamped arrowpoint rapidly through the water in a large tub, and it was discovered that the resistance of the water produced a rotary motion of the implement. A more conclusive test was made at a machine shop where the arrowpoint, hung as aforesaid, was presented point foremost to the pipe of air from the driving fan, when the current immediately set it revolving. When the force of the current was increased, it increased the rapidity of the rotary movement. When the arrowpoint was turned about so as to present its base to the current of air, no rotary motion was produced.
PECULIAR FORM OF ARROWPOINT, WITH BEVELED EDGES.
Elkton, Giles County, Tennessee.
Division IV, Class A.
Natural size.
These experiments were extended and continued to include any and every kind of bevel-edged arrowpoint and spearhead, always with the same result. It was obvious that the arrowpoint at rest presented to a rapidly moving current of air would have the same effect as an arrowpoint shot from the bow. Most of the specimens of bevel-edged arrowpoints and spearheads are chamfered one way, so that the movement usually was from right to left, contrary to the motion of the sun. All specimens of this kind employed in our experiments had that rotary motion from right to left A few specimens, however, are made with the bevel the other way, and when they were presented to the current of air their rotary motion was in the opposite direction.
PECULIAR FORM OP ARROWPOINT, WITH BEVELED EDGES.
Tennessee.
Division IV, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 8239, U.S.N.M.
It is proper to add that these experiments were pushed to such extent and in such number, with such repetition of the same result, as to be conclusive that, whatever may have been the intention of the maker of the arrowpoints, the fact was that in their flight through the air the beveled edges produced the rotary motion.
PECULIAR FORM OF ARROWPOINT, WITH BEVELED EDGES.
Point Lick, Kentucky.
Division IV, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 18084, U.S.N.M.
While it would appear that this rotary motion must have been intended by the arrow maker when he made the beveled edge, yet the difficulty of solution of the problem why he made it thus is much increased when we consider the greater ease, the less labor, and the increased facility with which he might have accomplished the same rotary motion by twisting the feathers on the arrow shaft. Yet we find this exceeding rare; out of a thousand arrow shafts in the U. S. National Museum not more than a dozen have been found with twisted feathering.
The bevel-edged arrowpoint is peculiar in its distribution. It is confined to the interior and southern United States.
Fig. 180 (Cat. No. 18800, U.S.N.M.) is one of these bevel-edged arrowpoints, which, on account of its size, form, and definitely beveled edges, has been chosen and is here represented full size as a characteristic bevel-edged weapon. It is of light-brown flint and comes from Elkton, Giles County, Tennessee. Its base is convex and smoothed, as usual. It is notched, shouldered, and barbed and, but for the peculiarity of its beveled edges, would be placed in Class C, Division III.
PECULIAR FORM OF ARROWPOINT, WITH BEVELED EDGES.
Louisville, Kentucky.
Division IV, Class A.
.
Cat. No. 19246, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 181 is the size of the average arrowpoint. It is 
inches long, 
inches wide, and from this size they descend to the smallest. The edges of this specimen are nearly straight, the base is concave, and the notches which form it are made in the edges near the base. The angle of the shoulders form the usual barb; the projecting corners of the base may also form another pair of barbs. If the arrow shaft used on this specimen should be small in diameter, the points of the base would project beyond it, and thus form a double set of barbs.
Fig. 182 has the appearance of gray flint, but it is of translucent crystalline structure, and an inspection identifies it as chalcedony or chalcedonic flint. Its edges are curved, a union of concave and convex, making them slightly ogee. The base is straight, the barbs are long and thin, and, what is rare, are nearly the same size their entire length. The notch which forms them begins at the corners of the base and edge and, ascending at an angle of about 45 degrees toward the center of the implement, is one-half an inch long and only one eighth of an inch thick or wide.
Fig. 183 is from Kentucky, gray flint, stemmed, shouldered, and barbed, and twisted to the left. The specimens of this class average from one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch in thickness, and are of all sizes and lengths. Reference is made to Plate 37 for other specimens.
Rev. J. G. Wood,1 author of The Natural History of Man, describes arrows with a rotary motion, which he says are used with the blowgun:
Rotary motion was communicated to the arrows in their flight by attaching to their lower ends two feathers—one from the right wing, the other from the left wing of a bird—which acted obliquely against the air and thus imparted the rotary motion required.
These may be of the usual types as to form, stem, barb, etc., but the serrated edge is a peculiarity sufficiently marked to prevent their being assigned to their respective types. The edges are jagged like sawteeth, and the serrations about the same size and frequency as a moderately fine handsaw. They are not the result of hazard in chipping, but are made by pressure with a pointed flaker exerted on the edges from alternate sides and at intervals, and are done with a purpose.
PECUL1AE FORM OP ARROWPOINT, WITH SEEEATED EDGES.
Oregon.
Division IV, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 12776, U.S.N.M.
PECULIAE FORM OF ARROWPOINT, WITH SERRATED EDGES.
Stockton, San Joaquin County, California.
Division IV, Class B.
.
Cat. No. 43029, U.S.N.M.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class C.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 35.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class C.
Fig. 1. FINE-GRAINED QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 88339, U.S.N.M. De Soto, Vernon County, Wisconsin. J. D. Middleton.)
Fig. 2. DARK-BROWN CHALCEDONY (cast).
(Cat. No. 98340, U.S.N.M. Warners Landing, Vernon County, Wisconsin. J. L. De Witt.)
Fig. 3. BLUE-GRAY TRANSLUCENT CHALCEDONY.
(Cat. No. 148034, U.S.N.M. Mound, Putnam County, Ohio. J. R. Nisley.)
Fig. 4. BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 173745, U.S.N.M. Williamson County, Illinois. H. C. Duvall.)
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class C.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 36.
STEMMED ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class C.
Fig. 1. LEAD-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 6159, U.S.N.M. Saratoga County, New York. Col. E. Jewett.)
Fig. 2. ROSE-TINTED QUARTZITE.
(Cat. No. 137927, U.S.N.M. Washington County, Missouri. Dr. Charles Rau.)
Fig. 3. VARIEGATED PINK AND SLATE-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 7659, U.S.N.M. Groveport, Ohio. W. R. Limpert.)
Fig. 4. GRAY FLINT OR CHERT.
(Cat. No. 172831, U.S.N.M. Ohio. W. K. Moorehead.)
Fig. 5. BLUE-GRAY CHALCEDONIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 7108, U.S.N.M. Mount Carmel, Illinois. Mr. Ridgway.)
Fig. 6. PYROMACHIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 31954, U.S.N.M. Montgomery County, Texas. Dr. J. L. Irish.)
Fig. 7. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 34581, U.S.N.M. McMinnville, Tennessee. W. W. Phillips and Dr. T. M. Brewer.)
Fig. 8. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 8239, U.S.N.M. Tennessee. J. H. Devereux.)
Fig. 9. YELLOWISH GRAY CHALCEDONIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 10820, U.S.N.M. Milnersville, Ohio. D. Thompson.)
Fig. 10. BLUE-GRAY CHALCEDONIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 18084, U.S.N.M. Paint Lick. Kentucky. J. B. Clark.)
Fig. 11. OPALESCENT CHALCEDONIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 15231, U.S.N.M. Santa Barbara County, California. Paul Schumacher.)
Fig. 12. DRAB FLINT.
(Cat. No. 32440, U.S.N.M. Orange County, Indiana. F. M. Symmes.)
Fig. 13. BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 8239a, U.S.N.M. Tennessee. J. H. Devereux.)
Fig. 14. BLACK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 34583, U.S.N.M. Sharpsburg, Maryland. A. P. Smith.)
Fig. 15. BLUE-GRAY CHALCEDONIC FLINT.
(Cat. No. 12681, U.S.N.M. Oregon. Paul Schumacher.)
Fig. 16. GREEN JASPERY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 12682, U.S.N.M. Oregon. Paul Schumacher.)
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 38.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class B.
Fig. 1. LIGHT-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171437. U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Burke County, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 2. YELLOWISH-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171437a, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Burke County, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 3. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 98403, U.S.N.M. Crawford County, Indiana. John H. Lemon.)
Fig. 4. OBSIDIAN.
(Cat. No. 42646, U.S.N.M. Stockton, San Joaquin County, California. L. Belding.)
Fig. 5. LIGHT-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171437b, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Burke County, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 6. LIGHT-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 132199, U.S.N.M. Burke County, Georgia. McGlashan collection.)
Fig. 7. BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 171444, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Burke County, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 8. BLUE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 12776, U.S.N.M. Oregon. Paul Schumacher.)
Fig. 9. OBSIDIAN.
(Cat. No. 43029, U.S.N.M. Stockton, San Joaquin County, California. L. Belding.)
Class C.
Fig. 10. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 21155, U.S.N.M. New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas. F. Lindheimer.)
Fig. 11. GRAY-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 61444, U.S.N.M. Austin, Travis County, Texas. George Stolley.)
Fig. 12. GRAY-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 8239, U.S.N.M. Tennessee. J. H. Devereux.)
Fig. 13. DARK SLATE-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 60459, U.S.N.M. Clinton, Feliciana County, Louisiana. John W. Roberts.)
Fig. 14. CLAY IRONSTONE.
(Cat. No. 5891, U.S.N.M. East Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut. D. W. Wood.)
Fig. 15. BLUE-BLACK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 35302, U.S.N.M. Valley of the Ohio River. W. M. H. De Haas.)
Fig. 16. OBSIDIAN.
(Cat. No. 19610, U.S.N.M. Susanville, Lassen County, California. Stephen Powers.)
Fig. 17. BLACK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 23265, U.S.N.M. Etowah Mounds, Bartow County, Georgia. B. B. Gideon.)
Fig. 18. DARK-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 6170, U.S.N.M. Lockport, Niagara County, New York. Col. E. Jewett.)
Fig. 19. DARK SLATE-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 16682, U.S.N.M. Peotone, Will County, Illinois. D. H. Eaton.)
Class 1).
Figs. 20, 23. STRAW-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. Nos. 132235, 132226, U.S.N.M. Burke County, Georgia. McGlashan collection.)
Fig. 21. YELLOWISH-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 132189, U.S.N.M. Burke County, Georgia. M. Glashan collection.)
Fig. 22. FAWN-GOLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 132189a, U.S.N.M. Burke County, Georgia. McGlashan collection.)
Figs. 24. 25. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. Nos. 9631, 9631a, U.S.N.M. County Derry, Ireland. R. Day, jr.)
Fig. 26. BLUE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 11130, U.S.N.M. Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. W. A. Baker.)
Fig. 27. FAWN-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 11121, U.S.N.M. County Armagh, Ireland. W. A. Baker.)
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Classes B, C, and D.
Figs. 184 and 185 are specimens of this class. Both are from the Pacific coast. The former is stemmed and shouldered, with pointed base, and would belong to Class B, stemmed; while the latter is leaf-shaped, with convex base, and would belong to Class B, leaf-shaped, but for its serrated edges. The edges of the former are serrated from the shoulder to the point; those of the latter have but three serrations near the base, but the implement is so small that slight entry into the flesh brings the serrations into use. A series of this class is represented on Plate 38, figs. 1–9.
These may be of standard types of any class of the stemmed division, either shouldered or barbed, with edges concave, straight, or convex; but, as in the class with serrated edges, here the bifurcated stem is a peculiarity so marked as to transfer it to this division (fig. 186).
Usually the bifurcated stem is neither expanding nor contracting, but is straight, with parallel edges. What would otherwise be the base is here occupied by a V-shaped notch. It is made by the same method as is the notch forming the shoulder, namely, chipping the flakes always in the same place by pressure exerted alternately from each side.
The flakes may have converted the former straight base into a V-shaped notch, which must have served for the insertion of the split shaft or handle. When shafted or handled the bifurcation would be hid, but it would seem to have afforded a firmer fastening.
From observations of specimens, it appears that arrowpoints of this size need not have been fastened firmly, but were as frequently lashed so as to wobble and possibly be detached from the shaft and left in the wound.1
PECULIAR FORM OP ARROWPOINT, WITH BIFURCATED STEM.
Tennessee.
Division IV, Class C.
.
Cat. No. 8235, U.S.N.M.
As the only attainment of the bifurcated stem appears to have afforded a firmer fastening (which was not needed for arrows, but was for knives), it is suggested that these may have been intended for knives and not for arrows. The well defined difference between the two classes and their existence and employment in the same locality, with a preponderance in number of those not bifurcated, points to the same conclusion. If the shaft or handle was cut out so as to receive the stem and also to fit the bifurcation, and then pressed in hard and lashed with sinews after the manner of arrowpoints, one can easily see that the bifurcation would increase the firmness of the blade in its handle. Reference is made to Plate 38, Nos. 10–19, for other specimens.
These are peculiar in that they are restricted to certain localities. Sir John Evans says they are found in some parts of England and Ireland. A beautiful specimen is figured by him,1 found by Canon W. Greenwell at Rudstone, near Bridlington, which is here reproduced as fig. 187. They much resemble the Queen’s “broad arrow.”
Our interest in this class arises from the fact that, while they are confined to restricted localities in Europe as mentioned, they should have appeared in America in an equally circumscribed area, namely, the State of Georgia. Figs. 20 to 23 on Plate 38 are of this class and form part of the McGlashan and Steiner collections from that State.
PECULIAR FORM OF ARROWPOINT, WITH EXTREMELY LONG BARBS, SQUARE AT ENDS.
Rudston, England.
Division IV, Class D.
Found by Canon W. Greenwell.
De Mortillet mentions them and calls them “pointes de flèche à barbelures Equarries,” and assigns them to the first epoch of bronze, the Morgien. He figures one2 in the Musée St. Germain as from the north of Ireland and collected by Sir John Evans. It has no stem, its base is concave, and the barbs are long, with parallel edges and square ends. Others, from Loir-et-Cher, have stems. The edges of the barbs are parallel and the ends are straight, but instead of being square—that is, at right angles—one is oblique inward and the other outward. Remark this difference in Figs. 20–23 of Plate 38.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Classes E, F, G, H, and I.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 39.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class E.
Fig. 1. FINE-GRAINED TUFA.
(Cat. No. 98478, U.S.N.M. Chiriqui, Panama, U. S. Colombia. J. A. McNiel.)
Fig. 2. REDDISH JASPER.
(Cat. No. 98477, U.S.N.M. Chiriqui. J. A. McNiel.)
Fig. 3. STRAW-COLORED FLINT.
(Cat. No. 58489, U.S.N.M. Denmark: Royal Museum. Copenhagen.)
Fig. 4. DARK-BROWN JASPER.
(Cat. No. 98476, U.S.N.M. Chiriqui J, A. McNiel.)
Class F.
Fig. 5. LIGHT-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 58490. U.S.N.M. Denmark; Royal Museum, Copenhagen.)
Fig. 6. PALE-YELLOW FLINT.
(Cat. No. 149579, U.S.N.M. Loir-et-Cher. France Thomas Wilson.)
Fig. 7. LIGHT-GRAY, TRANSLUCENT FLINT.
(Cat. No. 149579a, U.S.N.M. Loir-et-Cher, France. Thomas Wilson.)
Fig. 8. LIGHT-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 58491, U.S.N.M. Denmark; Royal Museum, Copenhagen.)
Class G.
Fig. 9. GRAY-BANDED SLATE, OVAL, WITHOUT RIDGES.
(Cat. No. 6548, U.S.N.M. St. Croix River. Maine. G. A. Boardman.)
Fig. 10. DARK-GRAY SLATE, OVAL, WITH RIDGES.
(Cat. No. 62097, U.S.N.M. Alaska. C. L. McKay.)
Fig. 11. DARK-GRAY SLATE, OVAL, WITH SLIGHT RIDGES.
(Cat. No. 30758, U.S.N.M. Seneca River, New York. W. M. Beauchamp.)
Fig. 12. LIGHT-GRAY SLATE, WITH RIDGES, DIAMOND IN SECTION.
(Cat. No. 140904, U.S.N.M. Korea. P. L. Jouy.)
Fig. 13. GARY FLINT, WITH RIDGES, DIAMOND IN SECTION.
(Cat. No. 140904a, U.S.N.M. Korea. P. L. Jouy.)
Class H.
Fig. 14. BROWN JASPER.
(Cat. No. 35767, U.S.N.M. Haldemans Island, Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania. F. G. Galbraith.)
Fig. 15. BLACK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 6694, U.S.N.M. Berks County, Pennsylvania. G. M. Keim.)
Figs. 16, 17. LIGHT-GRAY FLINT, WITH STRAW-COLORED PATINE.
(Cat. Nos. 171459, 171459a, U.S.N.M. Waynesboro, Burke County, Georgia. Dr. Roland Steiner.)
Fig. 18. FLINT (SOLUTRÉEN POINT).
(Original in Museum of St. Germain. De Mortillet, Musée Préhistorique, fig. 108. pl. xviii. Grotte de l’Église (Dordogne), France.)
Class I.
Fig. 19. BLUE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 99224, U.S.N.M. San Saba County, Texas. A. R. Roessler.)
These are thin and narrow rude flakes struck from nuclei and left nearly in their original condition except that a rude stem has been chipped, and where necessary they have been brought to a point. They are peculiar in being made triangular in section and that they are restricted to the province of Chiriqui, Panama. The U. S. National Museum is indebted to Mr. J. A. McNiel for its specimens, which have been described and figured by Dr. W. H. Holmes.1
The larger ones were of fine-grained, slaty-looking tufa, while the smaller were of flinty jasper of reddish and yellowish hues.
Fig. 188 is one of these small jasper specimens from Chiriqui. They are made entirely by chipping, and as the material is hard and refractory, the workmanship is rude. This form is shown in Plate 39, figs. 1 to 4.
PECULIAR FORM OF ARROWPOINT, TRIANGULAR IN SECTION, REDDISH JASPER.
Chiriqui, Panama, United States of Colombia.
Division IV, Class E.
Cat. No. 98477, U.S.N.M.
Fig. 189 (a, b) represents two specimens of this class, and figs. 5 to 8 on Plate 39 represent others. They are thin, almost flake-like in appearance, not made pointed, nor are the edges worked down by secondary chipping. The cutting edge is at the front, at the broadest end, chisel-shaped—tranchant transversal—and, thus propelled, will make a wound large enough for the arrow shaft to follow. Whether these were really arrowpoints, or were used as knives, is a disputed question. De Mortillet devotes Plate XXXIX of the Musée Préhistorique to them, showing fifteen illustrations (figs. 319–334). One of them, from Denmark, is still lashed to its shaft or handle by threads or fibers of bark. The instrument (fig. 190a) is small enough for an arrow, but the handle is short enough for a knife; whether the shaft was broken before being placed in its grave can not be known.
Fig. 190 (b) represents another specimen of the same class, from a neolithic grave at Montiguy-l’Engrain (Aisne) France. It is inserted in a horn handle and shows this particular specimen to have served as a knife, possibly for trepanation, and not as an arrow.
Similar specimens have been found throughout western Europe. A cache of some thousand was opened and is now displayed in the museum at Copenhagen. Another was described by M. Edmond Vielle.1
There is an implement peculiar to Scandinavia of the same form as the tranchant transversal. They have been called in French “tranchet.” From their resemblance to the tranchant transversal they are supposed to have been the same implement and intended for the same use, but this conclusion has not been accepted. The principal difference between those of Scandinavia and of other countries is their respective sizes. Those of Scandinavia are larger, so much so as to interdict all possible use as arrowpoints or spearheads. Many of them are large enough to have required to be held in the hand for use. It is the accepted belief that they served rather as hatchets, and that their cutting was done by strokes as in chopping. It is also charged that they belonged to an earlier epoch than their smaller partners, this having been determined by the conditions and stratum of their deposit and the objects with which they were found associated. No opinion is expressed as to the correctness of this belief of the use of the tranchet. As much as can be said at the present is a warning that an objection made to the large tranchet in Scandinavia shall not necessarily defeat the ideas of the similar use for the smaller ones in France and other parts of Europe.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, BROADEST AT CUTTING END—TRANCHANT TRANSVERSAL.
Aisne, France.
Division IV, Class F.
Whatever may be said in opposition to the use of the small tranchant transversal as an arrowpoint or spearhead, it must be admitted that they have been found in such numbers in numerous and widely separated localities, and extending over such an area of Europe as to make it difficult to determine for what purpose they were intended, if not for that.
The greatest contention as to its possible use grows out of its shaft or handle and the mode of attachment, by which it is sought to be determined whether it was used as an arrowpoint or spearhead, or as a knife; but all this discussion is of slight value viewed from the standpoint of this paper, for it must be admitted that these implements were prehistoric and intended for a use involving cutting, scraping, or piercing. The piercing use would decide it to be an arrowpoint or spearhead, which would naturally require an attachment to an arrow or spear shaft. But suppose that they would be found attached to a shorter shaft or handle, then they might serve as knives and as such would be entitled to consideration here. This supposed difference in the shaft or handle applies equally to other implements which have passed throughout all time as arrowpoints or spearheads. For, as has been shown in its appropriate place, the particular use of the ordinary arrowpoint or spearhead is to be determined by the kind of shaft or handle to which it was attached. The size of the implement made no difference; if it was attached to a long and stout shaft it was a spear, if to a shorter one, it was a javelin, if still shorter and smaller, an arrow, while a still shorter one became a handle and determined the implement to be a knife.
As the tranchant transversal must have had some one of these kinds of handles or shafts, the shaft or handle, and not the head, determined its use. It is therefore repeated that, in any event and without deciding the various contentions whether the tranchant transversal was used as an arrowpoint, a spearhead, or a knife, it is still appropriate to be noticed in this paper. It may have been a combination implement and served in many capacities. One suggested by the author as extremely probable is that of a surgical instrument and specially used in trepanation, of which we have seen so many instances in the prehistoric epoch to which these implements belong.
PECULIAR FORMS OP ARROWPOINTS—TRANCHANT TRANSVERSAL.
(a) Found in peat moss, Funan, Denmark, in shaft and tied with bast fiber.
Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, etc., p. 365, fig. 344.
(b) From neolithic grave, (Aisne) France, in horn handle.
Dictionnaire des Sciences Anthropologiques, p. 1065, fig. 279.
The U. S. National Museum possesses (Wilson collection) a series of these implements from the station of Teil (Loir-et-Cher, France), collected by M. A. 0. Bonnet, of Paris. He has a large collection, having excavated the station and secured its entire contents. He says the station at Teil was evidently inhabited by prehistoric man for a long time. It was on the side of a hill looking toward the south, with a stream of water at the foot, and had everything to recommend it as a place of habitation. There are many localities in western Europe wherein these implements have been found, but they do not require notice or description.
A vertebra, from a grotto near Courjeonnet, in the valley of the Petit Morin (Marne), France, was pierced by a flint arrowpoint of the type tranchant transversal. The grotto in which it was found was sepulchral. All the bones were human, regularly disposed, and their anatomical relations respectively preserved. There would seem to be no doubt that this was used as a projectile. Dr. Hamy, describing the excavations at Les Eyzies in his “Paléontologie Humaine,” says:
There are very small arrowpoints, triangular or flattened, filed at their extremities, which form a sharp edge. In figs. 63, 64 one of these points is shown still inserted in the lumbar vertebra of a young reindeer.
This means arrowpoints tranchant transversal, although the name had not then been given to them.
The specimens from Petit Morin confirm Hamy’s opinion and the theory that they were used as arrowpoints or projectiles. A skull was found in one of the grottoes of Villevenard, where it, with the other portions of the skeleton, were in their normal position, apparently unchanged in position since the day of burial. A portion of the skull was decayed so that possible wounds were destroyed, but inside of the skull, so placed as to be impossible of entry except through the bone, were found three arrowpoints tranchant transversal. Another of these arrowpoints was found, still at Villevenard, inserted between two dorsal vertebræ. In a burial cave containing thirty subjects, all regularly disposed and the whole grave filled solid, were found no less than seventy-three arrowpoints tranchant transversal. They were disposed in the head and trunk and bore such relation to the skeletons as to show that they had been intimately associated with the body, if not inserted in it, at the time of burial. Baron de Baye found nearly two thousand of these specimens, tranchant transversal, in the grottoes explored by him, and it is impossible to believe, after the evidences found, that they had not been used as projectiles, whether as arrowpoints or spearheads may be left undetermined.
Those who are desirous of continuing the investigations into this subject are referred to the authorities:
“Sur les Flèches à Tranchant Transversal,” by Baron Joseph de Baye, in Congrès International d’Anthropologie et Archæologie Préhistoriques. Compte rendu de la 7e session, Stockholm, 1874, I, pp. 271, 272.
“Le Préhistorique,” 2d ed., p. 518. By G. De Mortillet.
“Le Musée Préhistorique,” pl. XXXIX, figs. 319–334. By G. De Mortillet.
“Pointes de Flèches Typiques de Fere-en-Tardenois (Aisne),” by Edmond Vielle: Bull. de la Soc. d’Anthrop. de Paris, I, (4th. ser.), Paris, 1890, pp. 959–964.
“Armes de Jet à Tranchant Transversal, concave ou convexe,” by Dr. L. Capitan. Bulletin de la Societe d’Anthropologie de Paris, XII (3d ser.), 1889, pp. 609–620.
“Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain,” by Sir John Evans (Amer, ed.), p. 365.
“Un Depôt de Flèches à Tranchant Transversal dans les Stations du Petit-Morin,” by Baron Joseph de Baye. Bulletin de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, VII (3d ser.), 1884, pp. 202–204.
A communication by M. Dumont1 argues the affirmative of the proposition at length in a very satisfactory manner. It shows, by Plate IX, that on the Kongo and throughout a large portion of Africa the arrow or spear heads with the broad points, tranchant transversal, are in continued use among the savages. The same idea is elaborated by Dr. Capitan in the study mentioned.
Those who are in opposition to the idea of these being used as arrowpoints are recommended to Dictionnaire des Sciences Anthropologiques, titles “Neolithique,” p. 806, and “Tranchet,” p. 1064, by Philippe Salmon, and “Chisel-shaped,” by Sir John Evans, Ancient Stone Implements, etc., p. 329, fig. 272 from Egypt, and p. 352, fig. 342, from Scotland.
Two ancient specimens of this type, undoubtedly used as arrows, and coming from France, are shown (figs. 196, 197) in the chapter on ‘Arrow wounds,’ as having been fired, the first into a human vertebra and the second into a human tibia. While the drawing of these illustrations may not represent the tranchant transversal with exactness, there is no doubt, both from description and examination, that they are of this type.
Specimens of this type are shown on a portion of Plate 39 (figs. 9–13). They are peculiar in that they are found and appear to have been made and used in a restricted locality on the northern Atlantic coast. They are of slate, have been ground or polished on both sides, and made to a smooth edge.
Knives of slate, with a circular cutting edge, fashioned like a saddler’s knife, have been found in the same region, where they are said to have been used as fish knives. Both spearheads and knives are identical with Eskimo forms and would suggest possible contact; but it is remarkable, and as yet unexplained, why this material should have been preferred for arrowpoints or spearheads. There is no lack of the usual material in this portion of the country. Mount Kineo furnishes a porphyritic felsite (Mount Kineo flint), which was manufactured into arrowpoints that have been distributed up and down the coast for a long distance.
A series of asymmetric arrowpoints is represented in a portion of Plate 39 (figs. 15–19). Their lopsided form shows their peculiarity. It is curious that they should have been made in a way which apparently destroys their effectiveness as a projectile. It is suggested that they may have been fastened to a short handle after the fashion of a knife and then used as concave scrapers; that is to say, for the same purpose as the implements in Plate 26. The convex edge may have been used as a knife.
The long, straight implement (Plate 39, fig. 15) is quite different from these, and yet is asymmetric and to be placed in this class. It belongs to the Solutréen epoch of the Paleolithic period and represents the earliest examples of supposed arrowpoints or spearheads, although they may have been, and probably were, used as harpoons; they come from the well-known cavern district on the Vézère (Dordogne), France. The U. S. National Museum (Wilson collection) possesses two specimens of the same style, but smaller. The Solutréen epoch was proverbial for the excellence of its flint chipping, and these are representative examples.
The Steiner collection from Burke County, Georgia, contains a number of asymmetric arrowpoints or spearheads. Figs. 10 and 17, Plate 39, and fig. 195 belong to that collection. They are of the gray flint with yellow patina so common in that country, of which we have so many representatives in the Steiner and McGlashan collections. The remark above made as to the impossibility of their use as projectiles and the probability of their employment as scrapers or knives with short handles, applies to these specimens. Others shown in the plate as belonging to this class have great similarity with the implements to be described in the succeeding chapter on knives. Their asymmetric and lopsided form, the characteristics of their point, and the sharpened edge upon the one side only, the stem suitable for handling, are all evidence of the non-employment of these implements as arrows or spears, or as projectiles.
There have been discovered in different countries, implements which have resemblance to arrowpoints and spearheads in material, method and style of manufacture, and general appearance, though by reason of the peculiarity of their form are totally unfitted for any projectile purpose and, indeed, it is impossible that they should have served as such. Plate 39, fig. 14, shows one of this class, and Plate 40 represents a series of these curious forms. The latter is taken from the author’s paper on Prehistoric Art,1 where it is thus introduced:
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 40.
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class I.
Fig. 1. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 43132, U.S.N.M. Mound, Naples, Illinois. J. G. Henderson.)
Fig. 2. OBSIDIAN.
(Cat No. 26417, U.S.N.M. San Miguel Island, California. S. Bowers.)
Fig. 3. DARK-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 62387, U.S.N.M. Jefferson County, West Virginia. R.W. Mercer.)
Fig. 4. PORPHYRITIC FELSITE.
(Cat. No. 9992, U.S.N.M. Shell heaps, Edmunds, Maine. G. T. Gardner.)
Fig. 5. DARK-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 147751, U.S.N.M. Flint Ridge, Licking County, Ohio. Gerard Fowke.)
Fig. 6. PALE BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 35589, U.S.N.M. Greenfield, Missouri. M. E. Harrison.)
Fig. 7. PALE-BROWN FLINT.
(Cat. No. 147750, U.S.N.M. Flint Ridge, Ohio.)
Fig. 8. PALE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 15733, U.S.N.M. San Miguel Island, California. W. G. Harford.)
Fig. 9. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 145977, U.S.N.M. Flint Ridge, Ohio. Gerard Fowke.)
Fig. 10. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 32538, U.S.N.M. Pearl Depot, Illinois. Brainard Mitchell.)
Fig. 11. GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 15732, U.S.N.M. San Miguel Island, California.)
Fig. 12. PINK FLINT.
(Cat. No. 32522, U.S.N.M. Pearl Depot, Illinois. Brainard Mitchell.)
Fig. 13. PALE-GRAY FLINT.
(Cat. No. 30127, U.S.N.M. St. Clair County, Illinois. Dr. J. R. Patrick.)
Fig. 14. GRAYISH FLINT.
(Cat. No. 29630, U.S.N.M. San Miguel Island, California. S. Bowers.)
Fig. 15. WHITE FLINT.
(Cat. No. 173938, U.S.N.M. Southeast Missouri. Bureau of Ethnology, Hilder collection.)
Fig. 16. WHITE FLINT.
(Cat. No. 98662, U.S.N.M. (Cast). Greene County, Illinois. C. Armstrong.)
Fig. 17. WHITE FLINT.
(Cat. No. 32523. U.S.N.M. Pearl Depot, Illinois. Brainard Mitchell.)
Fig. 18. WHITE FLINT.
(103(?). Missouri.)
Fig. 19. WHITE FLINT.
(Cat. No. 146840, U.S.N.M. Dallas City, Illinois. L. S. Bliss.)
Fig. 20. PINKISH FLINT.
(Cat. No. 97485, U.S.N.M. Flint Ridge, Ohio. Gerard Fowke.)
PECULIAR FORMS OF ARROWPOINTS, SPEARHEADS, OR KNIVES.
Class I.
It has been remarked many times throughout this paper that the prehistoric artist possessed sufficient confidence in his ability, and displayed such control over his tools and materials as enabled him to make anything out of flint that his fancy might dictate; he did not confine himself to utilitarian objects, but was an artist in the true sense of the word; that is to say, he dealt with art for art’s sake, for the sake of making something which should be beautiful and whose only purpose, according to the canon of art laid down by Sir John Collier, would be to please his eye and to gratify his taste. The prehistoric artist in flint obtained, in some way, we know not how, possibly by study and contemplation, possibly by education, possibly by accident, an ideal which he reproduced in flint. Plate 29 [Plate 40] represents twenty objects taken at hazard from the interior of the United States, principally from the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, all of flint, in curious and rare forms, believed to be entirely without utility and solely to gratify an artistic desire. None of them are arrow or spear heads, and none of them appear to have been made for any service. They are the work of a master who, conscious of his ability, is playing with his art. One represents a bird, one a snake, one an outstretched beaver-skin, two of them, by stretch of the imagination, might represent four-footed animals; the rest have no likeness to any known object. All of them are worked from flint or some similar stone; one is of obsidian; they are represented about natural size. This series shows what the prehistoric artist in flint was able to do in the management and control of his tools and materials in making fanciful objects.
ARROWPOINT OF BONE, WITH NARROW GROOVES ON EACH SIDE AND SHARP FLINT FLAKES FASTENED WITH BITUMEN OR GUM.
Sweden.
Cat. No. 101637, U.S.N.M.
Natural size.
These curious forms are not peculiar to the United States. They are found in England,2 and have also been found scattered through France, Switzerland, and Italy, though rarely.
Fig. 191 is one of the peculiar forms restricted in number and locality. Its restrictions in both these regards are so close that the author has not deemed it necessary to assign it a class or give it a name. These forms are confined to Scandinavia, and are extremely rare even in that country. The specimen figured is from Sweden, was procured by the author, and forms part of the collection in the U. S. National Museum. It is an arrowpoint of bone, sharpened to a fine point, is extremely hard and stiff, and could pierce equal to any flint weapon. Either side is opened with a deep and narrow groove into which have been inserted tiny bits of flint flakes, with sharp cutting edges, fastened with bitumen or gum. Some of these bits of flint have been lost out of the original specimen, but enough remain to show its character and effectiveness as a weapon.1 Some of the bits of flint suitable for such use have been found and are displayed in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.2
M. de Mortillet presents, in “Musée Préhistorique,”3 eight illustrations of spear and lance heads with two poniards, varying in length. Six are from France, of which three are the flint of Grand Pressigny. He makes the following remarks as to their differentiation:
Lanceheads and poniards of flint in France are smooth on one side, the chipping being always done on the other. In Scandinavia they are chipped on both sides. In France the objects intended for knives have no secondary chipping at all. The cutting edge is left smooth as it was struck from the core; in other words, it is simply a sharp-edged flake.
In his estimation an object from France like the Mousterien point (figs. 3, 4), untouched on one side but wrought to an edge on the other, would be a spear or lance head, while a flake like that from Grand Pressigny (Plate 7, fig. 4), sharp but untouched on the edge, would be a knife. His Plate XLII contains illustrations of javelin points, large arrowpoints, of which five are from France (four of flint and one of bone), three are from the United States, the others from Russia and Scandinavia. His Plates XLIII and XLIV contain 41 illustrations of arrowpoints, of nearly every form and style (figs. 365–405). France has 21 representatives, Italy 4, Switzerland and Denmark each 3, Ireland, Portugal, and America each 2, Prussia, Sweden, and Algeria each 1. These are of the usual types, though some may have particular forms peculiar to certain countries. His Plate XLV contains four illustrations of the mode of fastening the arrowpoints to the shaft, three from the lake dwellings of Switzerland, and one from California; two are of stone and one of bone.
