Smaller chipped Implements.

Fig. 169.—Chipped spade with pointed ends.Fig. 170.—Chipped spade with rounded ends.

Fig. 169.—Chipped spade with pointed ends.Fig. 170.—Chipped spade with rounded ends.

Fig. 169.—Chipped spade with pointed ends.

Fig. 169.—Chipped spade with pointed ends.

Fig. 170.—Chipped spade with rounded ends.

Fig. 170.—Chipped spade with rounded ends.

The chipped implements known as spades are frequently found buried in large numbers. Two caches were disclosed by high water in 1884, near Caseyville, Kentucky, containing, respectively, 57 and 75 specimens from 6 to 13 inches long.

The most common form is that having an oval or elliptical outline, with the ends either coming to a point or rounded. Long use of those having pointed ends would wear them off until they approached the others in form; but so many of both patterns show no evidence of usethat this distinction must be considered intentional. The principal varieties are as follows:

A.Those with pointed ends.Figure 169represents a typical specimen of yellow flint, from Union county, Illinois.

B.Those with the ends rounded. Represented byfigure 170(yellow flint, from Union county, Illinois).

A specimen from Jackson county, Illinois, has had a portion of the edge broken squarely. The polish over this fractured surface shows that it was long used after breaking without being rechipped to a sharp edge. This indicates usage only in loose ground, as it evidently would be quite difficult to force the square, broken part into a hard soil or tough sod.

The specimens from Polk county, Tennessee, are pecked or chipped, or both, and are quite roughly made. They are neither scratched nor polished, and may be unfinished implements of some other class, though agreeing closely with the flint spades in shape and size.

C.A modification of the last form has the upper portion chipped away along the sides until it is ovoid, with a blunt point, leaving the lower part a regular curve. An example, shown infigure 171, is of grayish brown flint, from Scott county, Missouri. There are also one each from Mississippi county, Missouri, and Hopkins county, Kentucky, of the same material.

D.Like the above, but much shorter in ratio to the width, and with a flatter curve. The type,figure 172, is of yellow flint, from a mound in Obion county, Tennessee. There are also three from Union county, Illinois, one of them with almost the same dimensions.

E.Semicircular outline, with sides notched for securing the handle, as in arrowpoints and spearheads. Represented byfigure 173, showing a specimen of gray flint from a mound in Mississippi county, Arkansas. There are four additional specimens, all from Union county, Illinois.

F.A related form, also notched for attachment of handle.Figure 174represents an example of yellow flint, from Poinsett county, Arkansas, the only one of this shape in the collection.

From Jackson county, Illinois, there is a series beginning with a small scraper and a small scraper-like celt, and passing gradually into the large spades or digging-tools, there being a number of intermediate forms and sizes. Two specimens, only 6 inches long, have the glazed surface so characteristic of these implements, which could have been produced only by long-continued use in digging.

From a workshop at Mill creek, Union county, Illinois, there are a large number of pieces in every stage of work. Among them can be made series of all the different types here given, from the nodule in its natural state to the completed implement. Near by is a flint deposit showing extensive aboriginal quarrying.

Fig. 171.—Chipped spade, ovoid.

Fig. 171.—Chipped spade, ovoid.

Dawson,125in speaking of these implements, says: “The rudest of all rude implements, similar to the paleoliths of Europe, were used by the more settled and civilized agricultural nations.” While the majority of them are rude, simply because there was no necessity for elaborate work or fine finish in tools of this class, yet there are many specimens (as, for example, the one shown infigure 171) which in symmetry and workmanship will compare favorably with the larger specimens of other types, due regard being had to the fact that the coarse flint of which they are usually made does not admit of the most delicate execution.

The singular name “turtleback” is suggested instantly on seeing a specimen of the class so designated by Abbott and others. As commonly used, it refers to rude or unfinished leaf-shape implements of any size, which may be found in great abundance almost anywhere.It is used here, however, to denote more especially the disks or almond-shaped pieces of flint or chert sometimes found cached in considerable numbers.

Perkins126records the discovery of such caches in Vermont; an exceptional case, as they are seldom found outside of the Mississippi valley. The southern portion of Illinois has furnished more than any other section; those found there are almost invariably made from nodules of bluish gray hornstone, the concentric lines being strongly marked.127

Fig. 172.—Chipped spade.

Fig. 172.—Chipped spade.

The Bureau has secured a large number from southern Illinois, ranging from 3½ to 7½ inches in length, some nearly circular, others having a length nearly twice the breadth. All have secondary chipping around the edges. Many of the larger ones and most of the smaller have the edges more or less worn or polished in such manner as would result from use as knives or scrapers. A typical specimen is shown infigure 175.

Fig. 173.—Chipped spade, showing handle notches.Fig. 174.—Chipped spade.

Fig. 173.—Chipped spade, showing handle notches.Fig. 174.—Chipped spade.

Fig. 173.—Chipped spade, showing handle notches.

Fig. 173.—Chipped spade, showing handle notches.

Fig. 174.—Chipped spade.

Fig. 174.—Chipped spade.

Fig. 175.—Chipped disk, or “turtleback.”

Fig. 175.—Chipped disk, or “turtleback.”

Stevens128denies in strongest terms that these relics are unfinished implements, saying it is the worst possible form into which flint could be chipped for carrying or for future work. On the other hand, Cheever129says the Indians of California usually carry a pouch of treasures, consisting of unfinished arrowheads or unworked stones, to be slowly wrought out when they are industriously inclined. Catlin, too, observed that the Apache sometimes carry bowlders of hornstone a long distance to obtain material for arrowheads;130and according toim Thurn, the various Indian tribes of Guiana have each their special manufacture and exchange with other tribes.131Tylor says:

Till lately the Patagonians, when they came on their journeys to a place where suitable flint or obsidian was to be found, would load themselves with a supply of lumps to chip into these primitive currier’s scrapers.132

Till lately the Patagonians, when they came on their journeys to a place where suitable flint or obsidian was to be found, would load themselves with a supply of lumps to chip into these primitive currier’s scrapers.132

Both Jewitt133and Evans134say that stones of this character were used as sling-stones; but there is no evidence that North American Indians ever used slings. Speaking of similar stones, Tylor remarks:

They were used either as knives or scrapers; with the curved side upward (or out) there would be no danger of cutting a hide in skinning game, and they could be used to cut up the flesh; while by putting the pointed end in the handle they could be used as scrapers.135

They were used either as knives or scrapers; with the curved side upward (or out) there would be no danger of cutting a hide in skinning game, and they could be used to cut up the flesh; while by putting the pointed end in the handle they could be used as scrapers.135

The smoothed edge in so many specimens substantiates the last statement, while the theory that they are unfinished implements finds support in the fact that nearly all the nodules from which they are made have an ellipsoid form, and the present shape of the implement would result from chipping away the useless weathered surface to lessen the weight.

In the remaining portion of this paper, which will treat of the smaller chipped implements, a plan somewhat different from that of the preceding part will be followed.

As already stated, these specimens are almost invariably made of some form of flint; this term including chalcedony, basanite, jasper, chert, hornstone, and similar rocks. So common is its use that the term “flints” is gradually being adopted as a name for all the different classes of arrowheads, knives, drills, etc. The exceptions are not numerous enough to justify separate classification, so no tables of material will be used. Further, the great abundance of such relics in all portions of the country makes useless any allusion to the number from any particular locality; about the only limitation to their discovery is the amount of time and care which one chooses to give.

Before entering on the description, some quotations may be given in regard to methods of making these chipped implements.

According to Evans, the Mexican Indians take a piece of obsidian in the left hand and press it firmly against the point of a small goathorn held in the right, and by moving it gently in different directions they chip off small flakes until the arrow is complete;136they alsocut a notch in the end of a bone, into which the edge of the flake is inserted and a chip broken off by a sideways blow.137According to the same author, the Eskimo sometimes set the flake in a piece of split wood. The arrow is roughly chipped by blows with a hammer, either direct or with a punch interposed, and is then finished by pressing off fine chips with a point of antler set in an ivory handle.138Not only leaf-shape barbed arrows, but also ones either with or without the stem, can be produced by pressure with a point of antler; the former, however, are the more easily made, and were probably earlier in use.139

The Plains Indians lay the flat side of a flake of obsidian on a blanket, or other yielding substance, and with a knife nick off the edges rapidly. In their primitive state they probably used buckskin instead of the blankets, and pointed bone or horn instead of the knife.140

The Apache holds the flake or flint in his left hand, places his punch at the point where the chip is to be broken off, and it is struck by an assistant, thus knocking a chip from the under side; the flake is then turned and the process repeated, until the arrow is complete. The stone is held in the hand, as it can not be chipped on a hard substance.141A punch observed by Catlin in use by these Indians was a whale tooth 6 or 7 inches long, with one round and two flat sides. The Fuegians, according to the same authority, use a similar process and make as fine implements.142

The Eskimo make a spoon-shaped cavity in a log, lay the flake over it, and press along the margin, first on one side and then on the other, like setting a saw, until they form two sharp serrated edges. The working tool is a point of antler firmly bound into a piece of ivory. The same plan is used by widely separated peoples.143

Nilsson, in chipping out gun flints with a stone hammer, found it necessary to have the point operated on lie immediately above a point that rested on the rock “anvil” which he used.144

The Veeard or Wiyot of California used a pair of buck-horn pincers tied together with a thong at the point; they first hammered out the arrowhead in the rough, and then with these pincers carefully nipped off one tiny fragment after another.145The Klamath cover the hand with a piece of buckskin to keep it from being cut, and lay a flake along the ball of the thumb, holding it firmly with the fingers. With a point of antler from 4 to 6 inches long, they press against the edge, thus removing scales from the opposite side; they turn the flake around and over frequently, to preserve symmetry.146

The Shasta Indian lays a stone anvil on his knee, holds the edge of the flake against it, and with his stone hammer chips off flakes, finishing the base first, and gently chipping the whole arrow into shape. Both obsidian and glass are used.147The Shoshoni Indians used the same process.148

A Pit River Indian has been seen to make a very sharp and piercing arrow from a piece of quartz, with only a piece of round bone, one end of which was hemispherical with a small crease in it (as if made by a thread) one-sixteenth of an inch deep. The arrow was made by pressing off flakes by main strength, the crease being to prevent the bone from slipping, and affording no leverage.149John Smith (1607) says of the Powhatan Indian:

His arrowhead he maketh quickly, with a little bone, of any splint of stone or glass.150

His arrowhead he maketh quickly, with a little bone, of any splint of stone or glass.150

The Cloud River Indian used two deer prongs, one much smaller than the other, the points ground to the form of a square, sharp-pointed file. He had also some pieces of iron wire tied to sticks and ground in the same manner; these were better than the deer horn, because harder, and not needing to be sharpened so often. The flake was held firmly in the left hand, guarded by a piece of buckskin; he pressed off chips with the larger tool, turning the arrow end-for-end when done on one side, so as to keep the edge opposite the middle line. The notches for barbs were worked out in a similar manner with the smaller tool.151

Some of the California Indians prefer agate and obsidian for their implements, as the close grain admits more careful working. They use a tool with its working edge shaped like a glazier’s diamond (apparently a piece of bone or antler with a square-cut notch on the side); the flake is held in the left hand, while the nick in the side of the tool is used to chip small fragments.152Peale makes similar statements, and adds that the notches are of different sizes to suit the different stages of work.153

The Klamath Indians, according to Schumacher, have a slender stick 1½ feet long, with a piece of sea-lion tooth, or antler, fastened to the end of it. Holding one end under the arm to steady it, they take a flake in the left hand, wrapped in a piece of buckskin so as to leave only the edge exposed, and by pressure with the point of the tool break off flakes as large as necessary, the last being quite fine, to give sharp edges to the arrow. The notches are worked out by means of a point of bone 4 or 5 inches long, without a shaft.154Chase gives a similar account, but says that iron points have now taken the place of the bone or horn points formerly used.155

It may not be out of place in this connection to give a few quotations in regard to the length of time required for making an arrowhead.

According to the Marquis de Nadaillac, the Mexicans could turn out a hundred flint knives (probably only unworked obsidian flakes) an hour,156while Crook says that the Plains Indians with only a knife for nicking off the edges, will make from fifty to one hundred arrows in the same period.157Chase found that a Klamath Indian required five minutes to complete a perfect arrowhead;158though Stevens observes that a Shasta Indian spent an hour in chipping one from a flake of obsidian,159and Lubbock states that the most skillful Indian workmen can not hope to complete more than a single arrow in a day’s hard work.160Powers also speaks of the aborigines of California as "using that infinite patience which is characteristic of the Indian, spending days, perhaps weeks, upon a single piece;161and Tylor notes “that utter disregard of time that lets the Indian spend a month in making an arrow.”162

The last two references are probably to the large and finely worked pieces used for ceremonial or ornamental purposes.

The only practicable division of the greater part of the smaller flints is into stemmed and stemless, the former having a prolongation at the base for firmer attachment to a shaft or handle, the latter being of a triangular or oval shape. The stemmed implements may be barbed or not, and the stem either narrower or broader toward the end.

The name “arrowhead” so commonly applied, fits only the minority of specimens, as none but the smaller ones could be so used; the larger are too heavy. The longest stone arrowpoint in the extensive collection of arrows in the National Museum measures two and five-eighths inches in length and is narrow and thin. An arrowpoint two inches in length is seldom seen. The larger specimens were probably knives and spearheads; but it would be difficult to assign any certain use for a particular type, the markings on so many indicate usage for which their shape would seem to render them unsuitable. It is probable that a single specimen served a variety of purposes.

Wood, bone, and shell were also used to a considerable extent, in the manufacture of implements for which flint would seem much better adapted. Thus for fish spears the southern Indians used canes, sharp-pointed, barbed, and hardened in the fire,163while knives were formerly made of flint or cane; these are still used when the hunting knife hasbeen lost.164The California Indians had arrows tipped with hard-pointed wood for common use, and with agate or obsidian for war.165

The accompanying diagram (figure 176) will render plain the different terms used in the following descriptions:

Fig. 176—Diagram, explaining terms.

aPoint.bEdge.cFace.dBevel.166eBlade.fTang.gStem.hBase.iNotch.kNeck.mBarb, or shoulder.

The only difference between barb and shoulder is that the barb is prolonged toward the base. The shoulder is called squared or rounded according to whether the edge of the implement makes an angle or a curve where drawn in to form the stem.

In the stemless specimens the base is the end opposite the point.

A tapering stem means one narrowing toward the base; straight, one whose sides are parallel; and expanding, one which is widest at the base.

The stemless flints are triangular or oval in outline. For convenience they will be divided into those small enough for arrowpoints (not above 2½ inches long) and those which are too large for such purpose. The latter reach to the length of 7½ inches. They are chipped to a sharp edge all around. The ratio of width to length varies from 1:4 to 4:5.

These objects were mostly for use as knives, scrapers or spearheads. Some of the thicker ones were spikes for clubs. Abbott167mentions three triangular jasper implements 3 to 4 inches long from graves, associated with fragments of large bones which showed plainly that they had been used for clubs, and the Iroquois are known to have used a club with a sharp-pointed deer-horn about four inches long inserted in the lower side. Schoolcraft168illustrates a pointed stone with a squaresection (apparently of the class usually called “picks”), mounted in a club which is curved at the end to let the spike set in the end at a right angle to the handle; and Brickell observes that the North Carolina Indians used clubs or long poles, in the ends of which were fastened artificially sharpened stones, or horns of animals.169Morgan also notes that among the Iroquois rows of arrow-shaped chert heads about two feet in extent have been found lying side by side. They were set in a frame and fastened with thongs, forming a species of sword.170According to Tylor the Mexicans had a similar sword, with obsidian teeth gummed in holes in a war club,171and Bourke observed at Taos pueblo a similar weapon with iron teeth.172But the number of specimens found mounted indicates that most of them were used as knives or scrapers.

A.With base and edges straight or slightly convex; corners square. The type illustrated infigure 177is from Montgomery county, North Carolina. Similar forms come also from eastern Tennessee; central and western North Carolina; southwestern Illinois; Miami and Scioto valleys, and central Ohio; southwestern Wisconsin; northeastern and southwestern Arkansas; northeastern and northwestern Alabama, and Coosa valley in the same state; Kanawha valley, West Virginia; northeastern and central Kentucky; and Savannah, Georgia.

Fig. 177.—Triangular chipped flint.

Fig. 177.—Triangular chipped flint.

B.Base straight or nearly so; edges parallel most of the length, curving abruptly to a point; usually with one face less convex than the other, even quite flat, giving a plano-convex section; medium size. The specimen shown infigure 178, from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, is representative. Other examples come from eastern Tennessee; central North Carolina; northwestern Alabama; Kanawha valley; and southwestern Illinois.

Fig. 178.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 178.—Chipped flint.

C.Base straight or nearly so; corners square or slightly rounded; edges convex, curving gradually and regularly to the point; usually widest about one-third of the way above the base; varying much in width, and in length from 6½ inches down to the arrowpoint. A few of the largest have the edges slightly expanding at their junction with the base, for firmer attachment to a handle. The type isfigure 179(from Loudon county, Tennessee). Other specimens are from eastern Tennessee; central and western North Carolina; Kanawha valley; Keokuk, Iowa; Miami and Scioto valleys, and central Ohio; eastern, southern, and southwestern Wisconsin; northeastern Arkansas; central and northeastern Kentucky; northwestern Georgia, and Savannah; southwestern Illinois; and Coosa valley, Alabama.

Fig. 179.—Chipped flint.Fig. 180.—Chipped flint, somewhat bell-shape.

Fig. 179.—Chipped flint.Fig. 180.—Chipped flint, somewhat bell-shape.

Fig. 179.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 179.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 180.—Chipped flint, somewhat bell-shape.

Fig. 180.—Chipped flint, somewhat bell-shape.

D.Narrow and thick; up to 6 inches long; convex base; edges straight to the base, where they expand somewhat, giving the implement a bell shape. The largest specimen in the lot (figure 180) has both faces polished almost the entire length, a feature absent from all the others. This example is from Caldwell county, North Carolina. The form is found also in central and western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, northeastern Kentucky; Kanawha valley; and northeastern Arkansas. Few of the flints occur in the collection except from the two localities first mentioned, where they are moderately abundant.

E.Elliptical outline; some very thin, others resembling celts. One from Kanawha valley has the projecting facets and ridges on one face very smooth from use, those on the other being still sharp, as when first chipped. The one figured has the edge worn smooth entirely around, seemingly from use as a cutting tool, the ends being most worn. Represented byfigure 181(from Dane county, Wisconsin). Found also in southern and southwestern Wisconsin; eastern Tennessee; northeastern Arkansas; central and western North Carolina; Brown county, Illinois; Kanawha valley; and South Carolina.

Fig. 181.—Chipped flint, elliptical outline.Fig. 182.—Chipped flint, leaf-shape or oval outline.

Fig. 181.—Chipped flint, elliptical outline.Fig. 182.—Chipped flint, leaf-shape or oval outline.

Fig. 181.—Chipped flint, elliptical outline.

Fig. 181.—Chipped flint, elliptical outline.

Fig. 182.—Chipped flint, leaf-shape or oval outline.

Fig. 182.—Chipped flint, leaf-shape or oval outline.

F.With the outline a continuous curve from the point entirely around, the base being regularly rounded. This is the model of the pointed oval or leaf-shape flint. Sometimes one face is flatter than the other, being less worked, or in a few cases the unaltered flat side of a flake. Usually they are quite symmetrical, but occasionally one edge is more curvedthan the other. The type illustrated infigure 182is from Vernon county, Wisconsin. Other specimens are from western and central Wisconsin; eastern Tennessee; Miami and Scioto valleys, and central Ohio; southwestern Illinois; Kanawha valley; northeastern Kentucky; northeastern and southwestern Arkansas; northwestern and northeastern Georgia, and Savannah.

Fig. 183.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 183.—Chipped flint.

G.With convex edges and slightly convex base; being a medium between the triangular and the leaf-shape. Some are quite narrow and thick, others wide and thin; the former probably clubs or spearheads, the latter knives. A good example, shown infigure 183, is from Savannah, Georgia. Others are from central Arkansas; central Ohio; eastern Tennessee; Kanawha valley; central North Carolina; southern Wisconsin; northwestern Georgia, and Savannah; northeastern Alabama; and South Carolina.

Fig. 184.—Chipped flint, large, pointed elliptical outline.

Fig. 184.—Chipped flint, large, pointed elliptical outline.

H.Pointed at each end; mostly elliptical, though sometimes widest near one end; from 5 to 12 inches long. Nearly all are thin and finely worked, with sharp edges. One from Cheatham county, Tennessee, has a deep notch on each edge about one-third of the way from one end, this end being somewhat rounded. The type (figure 184) is from Lonoke county, Arkansas. Other specimens are from central Arkansas, southwestern Illinois, northern and eastern Tennessee.

Fig. 185.—Chipped flint, large, long sharp point.

Fig. 185.—Chipped flint, large, long sharp point.

I.A similar pattern, but having one end continued into a narrow point, shown infigure 185, is from Bartow county, Georgia. Another of the same kind comes from Loudon county, Tennessee.

J.Similar to groupH, but with the edges straight for more than half the length, probably to afford a more convenient hold for the hand.The form is shown infigure 186, representing a specimen from Mississippi county, Arkansas. Others are from northwestern Georgia, southwestern Illinois, and northeastern Arkansas. There are a few similar in method of chipping to those of groupI, but smaller and very narrow, from eastern and western Tennessee and northeastern Arkansas.

K.Double-pointed or lenticular in outline; quite symmetrical; from 2 to 4 inches long; thin and well worked. Represented in northeastern Arkansas; South Carolina; central and western North Carolina; eastern Tennessee; Scioto valley, and central Ohio; Kanawha valley; and northwestern Georgia.

Fig. 186.—Chipped flint, large.Fig. 187.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 186.—Chipped flint, large.Fig. 187.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 186.—Chipped flint, large.

Fig. 186.—Chipped flint, large.

Fig. 187.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 187.—Chipped flint.

L.With straight or concave base; edges diverging by straight or slightly convex lines for about half the length from the base, then curving to the point. There is considerable variation in the relative width of these, as well as the amount of concavity at the base. None with this outline of the edges has a convex base. From 2 to 6 inches long. The form is illustrated by figures 187 (from Lawrence county, Ohio), and 188 (from Blount county, Tennessee). In addition to the specimens figured, there is material in the collection from Scioto valley, Ohio; central and western North Carolina; Keokuk, Iowa; Brown county, Illinois; eastern Tennessee; northeastern Alabama, and Coosa valley in the same state; Kanawha valley; South Carolina; southern Wisconsin; and Savannah, Georgia.

Fig. 188.—Chipped flint.Fig. 189.—Chipped flint, with shoulders.

Fig. 188.—Chipped flint.Fig. 189.—Chipped flint, with shoulders.

Fig. 188.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 188.—Chipped flint.

Fig. 189.—Chipped flint, with shoulders.

Fig. 189.—Chipped flint, with shoulders.

M.A modification of the last form in which the edge expands just at the base, forming a point at each corner or shoulder. Illustrated infigure 189. The specimen figured is from Forsyth county, Georgia. Others are from northwestern Georgia, and Savannah; eastern Tennessee; northeastern Kentucky; southwestern Wisconsin; and Kanawha valley.

Small triangular or oval arrowpoints, differing from those previously described in being too small for any similar uses, few of thembeing so much as two inches in length, and varying from that size to not more than half an inch. Nearly all are very thin, though some of the narrower ones may have a diamond or thick lenticular section. Some are very slender, so much so that they are usually classed as perforators; others are equilateral. Both the base and edges may be straight, convex, or concave. A few have a shallow notch in each edge just above the corner; nearly all, however, have both base and edge continuous.

Fig. 190.—Chipped flint, small.Fig. 191.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 190.—Chipped flint, small.Fig. 191.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 190.—Chipped flint, small.

Fig. 190.—Chipped flint, small.

Fig. 191.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 191.—Chipped flint, triangular.

The groups and subdivisions which have been recognized among the smaller chipped flint objects in the Bureau collection may be enumerated as follows:

A.Concave base. The concavity may vary from almost a straight line to one-third the length of the flint. Usually symmetric, as in figures 190 and 191, though sometimes one tang or barb, if it may be called such, is longer than the other, as infigure 192. A very few have beveled or serrated edges.

1. Convex edges. The type, shown infigure 190, is from Jefferson county, Tennessee. Other specimens are from eastern Tennessee; Union county, Mississippi; northwestern Georgia, and Bibb county and Savannah in the same state; central and western North Carolina; Miami and Scioto valleys and central Ohio; Kanawha valley, West Virginia; South Carolina; and southwestern Arkansas.

Fig. 192.—Chipped flint, asymmetric.Fig. 193.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 192.—Chipped flint, asymmetric.Fig. 193.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 192.—Chipped flint, asymmetric.

Fig. 192.—Chipped flint, asymmetric.

Fig. 193.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 193.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

2. Straight edges, as in the specimen illustrated infigure 191, from Ouachita county, Arkansas. Similar specimens are found in northeastern and southwestern Arkansas; western and central North Carolina; Kanawha valley; eastern Wisconsin; northwestern Georgia, and Savannah; eastern Tennessee; South Carolina; southwestern Illinois; Union county, Mississippi; and northeastern Kentucky.

3. Concave edges. This abundant form is illustrated in figures 192 (Cherokee county, Georgia), 193 (Caldwell county, North Carolina), and 194 (Washington county, Virginia). Other specimens are from northwestern Georgia and Savannah; central and western North Carolina; Kanawha valley; eastern Tennessee; northeastern Kentucky; southwestern Arkansas; South Carolina; Union county, Mississippi; and Coosa valley, Alabama. This subdivision of groupAis abundant, as well as widely distributed.

Fig. 194.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 194.—Chipped flint, triangular.

B.With straight bases. These are all small, the broad ones being short and the long ones slender. Most of them are both short and narrow.

Fig. 195.—Chipped flint, small.Fig. 196.—Chipped flint, short, convex edges.

Fig. 195.—Chipped flint, small.Fig. 196.—Chipped flint, short, convex edges.

Fig. 195.—Chipped flint, small.

Fig. 195.—Chipped flint, small.

Fig. 196.—Chipped flint, short, convex edges.

Fig. 196.—Chipped flint, short, convex edges.

1. Convex edges as in figures 195 (McMinn county, Tennessee) and 196 (Bradley county, Tennessee). The form is widely distributed, being represented by specimens from eastern Tennessee; northeastern, southwestern, and southeastern Arkansas; Scioto valley, Ohio; northeastern Kentucky; northwestern Georgia and Savannah; Kanawha valley; Union county, Mississippi; Holt county, Missouri; northeastern Alabama, and Coosa valley in the same state; southern and southwestern Wisconsin; and western North Carolina.

2. Straight edges. Exemplified by the specimen shown infigure 197, from McMinn county, Tennessee. Found also in eastern Tennessee; northeastern Arkansas; Coosa valley, Alabama; Union county, Mississippi; Kanawha valley; Miami and Scioto valleys, Ohio; eastern, southern, and southwestern Wisconsin; western and central North Carolina; Bartow county and Savannah, Georgia; South Carolina, and northeastern Kentucky.

Fig. 197.—Chipped flint, triangular.Fig. 198.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 197.—Chipped flint, triangular.Fig. 198.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 197.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 197.—Chipped flint, triangular.

Fig. 198.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

Fig. 198.—Chipped flint, concave edges.

3. Concave edges, as infigure 198(from Bledsoe county, Tennessee). Other examples of this class are from eastern Tennessee; Scioto valley, Ohio; northeastern and southwestern Arkansas; Kanawha valley, West Virginia; northeastern Kentucky; western and central North Carolina; northeastern Alabama; southwestern Illinois; and Savannah, Georgia.

C.Convex bases. Less abundant than the preceding, and the forms representing it are less variable. Its sub-groups are as follows:


Back to IndexNext