b. Chipped Stones.

[99]Prof. Putnam, p. 211, in figs. 87, 88, from Santa Barbara.

[100]l. c., pl. IX.

[101]Powers,l. c., fig. 43, opp. p. 426.

[102]l. c., IV, p. 711.

[103]Comp. two of Putnam’s views in pl. VIII.

[104]l. c., p. 256, fig. 112. The one drawn by Peet,l. c., I, p. 282, shows the same object.

[105]Cf. Abbott,l. c., p. 330, fig. 322, from Massachusetts.

[106]Abbott,l. c., pp. 336 and 340.

[107]Fewkes, p. 128, fig. 155.

[108]Rau, Smiths. Contrib.,l. c., p. 44, fig. 176.

In the mound were found different kinds of stones,—some isolated specimens showing good workmanship but as yet unclassified, and others, of the common kinds which were, of course, in use at the same time with the more perfect implements.

Those of the first kind were all found in stratum II. One of these is 1-8671,plate 12, figs. 12aand (front view) 12b. It is made of soft serpentine. Its shape is that of a flat cylinder of not entirely uniform height, with flat or almost imperceptibly curved ends; there is a perforation which extends inward in the form of a cone from both ends.[109]In the gentle curving-out of its peripheral surface it is particularly like ear-pegs. It is worthy of note that Moorehead shows two objects from the neighborhood of Stockton analogous to it in many respects and designated by him as lip-pegs,[110]and that barbed, bone spear-heads like those used on the northwest coast were found in the vicinity of Stockton, according to Mr. Meredith, in close proximity to a lip-peg[111]of the kind used on the northwest coast. The possibility, therefore, of an ethnological connection between the ancient inhabitants of the vicinity of the central California water basins and those of the north cannot well be denied.

The small object, 1-8628,plate 12, fig. 13, seems similar in size and form to the object shown inplate 12, fig. 12. This similarity is only a superficial one, aside from the difference in the material of which it is made,—burnt clay, rare in California and not carved but modeled; it is further different in the fact that its cross section is oval and that its slightly arched end is covered with marks of blows, and that the perforation is absent.

Plate 12, fig. 6, 1-8631, is of quartz-colored material, flat and tongue-shaped. It is broken off at the broad end, the lower surface is flat, the upper slightly arched, and the edge blunt. Judging from its form and the brittle nature of the material of which it is made, it must have been an ornament.

Plate 12, fig. 5, 1-8850, of chalcedony, looks like a neckless head of a bird resting on a bust-like body; the bill is linear; the eye is represented by a deep hollow. That this object is not an artifact is the conclusion suggested by the presence of a crust over the entire object from beak to eye, formed by its weathering. In relation to other products of human workmanship, such an object has worth only in so far as its shape was of undoubted significance to the inhabitants, and carefully preserved for that reason.

Besides this, various flat, smooth stones of chert and agate were found, one of which, 1-8849, from stratum VII, is shown in fig. 23. It is made of fine grained sandstone, has but one smooth side and was used as a whet-stone. A thin oblong sheet of mica-slate was unearthed, but it must have been used only as an ornament.

Fig. 24 (1-8721 from stratum V) illustrates one of two analogous objects from the upper strata of the mound. It is a common stone with about seven groove-like lines of varying breadth and depth on the sides. Two of them form an angle which though purely accidental might seem to be ornamental. The grooves come probably from its use as a whet-stone for bone awls, etc. To this purpose the hard, sandy substance easily lent itself. Long bars could not have been fixed to this stone, since for that purpose the grooves are neither broad nor straight enough. Several drawings by Rau[112]and by Moorehead[113]may here be compared.

Fig. 23. × 1/5. Fig. 24. × 1/2. Stones, probably used for whetting.

A great number of these were found in the mound. As regards their shape they fall into two classes, either finished implements or chips from the workshop. As regards the material of which they are made, they also fall into two large separate classes: those of the usual, light stone natural to the place such as flint, chert (in green or brown variety), horn-stone, jasper, etc., and those of obsidian (volcanic glass), which was not to be had in the immediate locality, although it was the preferred material. The classification according to material is the more important. There were found about twenty-five obsidian objects (among them a very few rough pieces or waste bits from the workshop, the latter all small) and about 140 hewn stones of other kinds of material. Most of these were waste from the workshop, all of the size of implements, but relatively few (about one-fourth) complete tools.

The obsidian implements came from the Ist to the IXth strata, but most of them were found in the upper layers. Nearly three-fourths of them were taken from the three upper strata. In stratum II alone there were ten implements and one piece of obsidian in the rough. It can certainly be inferred that the great quantity of obsidian tools from II was connected with the custom of burning the dead and of casting their belongings into the flames. In addition, the great number found here shows a broader and more universal use of obsidian in the making of implements.

They are all of very simple form, such as arrow-and spear-heads,[114]spear-like points and a flat knife-like blade, made from the rough stone by polishing off bits[115](seeplate 10, figs. 11 to 16). Arrow-heads of obsidian were found only in stratum II, comp. 1-8676,plate 10, fig. 13, the blade-like knife, 1-8633, fig. 11, and the spear-like knife end, 1-8634, fig. 16, which were found there. 1-8926 from stratum VIII, fig. 15, may have been either a spear-head or a knife. Fragment 1-8536 from stratum I, fig. 12, by virtue of its two unevenly arched surfaces, and 1-8883, fig. 14 of the plate, from stratum VIII (found nineteen feet down in the tunnel between parts 8 and 9 of the shaft frame) on account of its long peg-like lower end, may be parts of knife-like implements. They were fastened on rod-like shafts similar to the fine-handled knives of southern California shown by Professor Putnam and which are in an excellent state of preservation.

From a technical standpoint, it is worthy of note that implements of such perfect workmanship as figs. 12[116]and 13 were not found among the obsidian implements of the lower strata of the mound. A proportional decrease in obsidian implements of good workmanship can be noted as one approaches the lowest strata.

In northern California obsidian is found near Mt. Shasta, on the north side of Mt. St. Helena and in pieces to the size of an ostrich egg in Napa Valley.[117]It is a product of volcanic eruptions, phenomena which were of frequent occurrence during the tertiary period. The material of which the implements found about the bay in all the shellmounds were made must have come from one of the above-named sources through trading. The small number of such implements found in the shellmounds is probably the result of the comparative rarity of the obsidian in this locality and the resulting care with which it was hoarded.

It is to be inferred that at no period was obsidian exclusively the material used for chipped stone implements, since workshop waste composed of materials found in the neighborhood has been discovered up to stratum II. Since, however, waste and no finished implements of local materials have been found above stratum V, the instances of the use of such must have been relatively isolated in the upper strata. Toward the lower strata, from about the VIIth but practically from the VIIIth on, there is a great increase in workshop waste. Stratum V is the uppermost one out of which one or two single objects (among them 1-8756,plate 6, fig. 21) may be considered finished implements. Of the thirty-nine implement-like objects obtained in excavating, only one is of unusual workmanship, an arrow-head of chert, 1-8815,plate 6, fig. 19, which comes from stratum VII, at the lowest part of cut C. The extraordinary accumulation of objects of chipped stone which can be termed implements begins with stratum VIII and continues down to the lowest stratum X. A considerable number of these is shown inplate 6. It is, however, remarkable that of these not one shows in its workmanship complete mastery in the handling of the material. The implement which, though still crude, shows the next best workmanship is the leaf-like point of crystalline rock, 1-8929,plate 6, fig. 20, from stratum VIII, found at the innermost end of the gallery.[118]All of the remaining implement-like objects of chipped stone bear the marks of crudity as do all of those that come from strata IX and X. It is very noticeable that because of this crudity in most of them, the line between implement and waste is very vague. It was therefore difficult to decide in the case of many objects whether they were to be regarded as tools at all. On the other hand, it is probable that a number of pieces included under rubbish may have really served as tools.[119]

Resulting from the discovery of obsidian,plate 10, fig. 15, chipped stones of good workmanship were found as far down as the upper part of stratum VIII. It is extremely doubtful whether they appeared at all in the strata below this. The objects made of material from the vicinity of the mound were certainly made during its settlement. A characteristic mark of the uniform crudity of all of these tools made of local materials and found in the lower strata is that they all are worked from but one side and that the elaboration of that side is accomplished by but a very few strokes. The only exception to this is the point, from stratum VII,pl. 6, fig. 19, which as to technique belongs in another place.Pl. 6, fig. 18, 1-9012, shows a ridge-like elevation on its lower side, thus forming an unimportant and superficial exception. The point, 1-8929,pl. 6, fig. 20, is also entirely even on its under side. In this they have a peculiarity characteristic of the well known “turtle-backs.”[120]This latter kind which in the eastern states of the United States has been found typical of the implements of the palaeolithic age is to be recognized in two objects in our collection, 1-9095, of green chert,pl. 6, fig. 2, from stratum X, and 1-9007 of a crystalline substance,pl. 6, fig. 1, from stratum IX. The first of these is without a doubt an implement, and the second is probably one. The palaeolithic turtle-backs of the East are unmistakably to be differentiated from the two objects under question in the material of which they are composed, which is argillite. In any case, however, the presence of these two objects proves that primordial species of stone implements existed into the neolithic period (for the mound rests on alluvial soil) and they may give ground for the establishing of the period from which such implements date, which is even farther back than that. The conical piece of jasper brought to a point by chipping, 1-8851,pl. 6, fig. 3, from stratum VIIa, illustrates how implements were made by chipping from larger pieces of stone, and may even be itself a tool. It cannot be stated indisputably that the greater number of the common forms of chipped stones shown onpl. 6were obsolete among the latter inhabitants of the mound. But it must be noted that the greater number and the most characteristic of them do not appear in the upper strata. We may surmise that as far as they did occur among the founders of the upper strata they had a better form. In addition to the pointed (pl. 6, figs. 19 to 20) and knife-like implements (fig. 21) the following important types are represented.

1. Long scrapers sharpened on one side, 1-9012, fig. 18, from stratum IX, and 1-9093, fig. 17, from stratum X.

2. Chisel-like tools terminating in front in a straight sharp edge, 1-8857, fig. 14, from stratum VIIa, and 1-9080, fig. 15, from stratum X.

3. Scrapers, more or less rounded off or oval, 1-9023, fig. 8, from stratum IX, 1-9053, fig. 9, from stratum IX, 1-9085, fig. 10, from stratum X.[121]

In a like manner the following irregularly shaped objects might have been used as scrapers.

1-9043, fig. 7, from stratum IX.

1-8966, fig. 11, from stratum VIII or IX.

1-9012, fig. 12, from stratum IX.

1-9040, fig. 13, from stratum IX.[122]

4. Oval stones with high “turtle-back” backs with the encircling edges sharpened, probably too large for use as the usual scrapers:

1-9007, fig. 1, and 1-9095, fig. 2.

5. Drills or awl-like, pointed stones, with a more or less thick base.

1-8961, fig. 6, from stratum VIII or IX.

1-9005, fig. 5, from stratum IX.

1-9031, fig. 4, from stratum IX.

Instruments like the last have been found in many parts of the United States.[123]Several of these bear a great resemblance to those here shown, one such is pictured by Rau[124]from Santa Cruz Island, and one of like origin by Putnam,[125]one from Santa Rosa Island.[126]Traces of asphaltum found on the broad base of many similar ones would point to the fact of their once having been fastened to a shaft.[127]

[109]As regards its form it may be compared to the objects shown by Moorehead,l. c., p. 279, fig. 418, Nos. 2 (from Napa county) and 7, from North and Central California.

[110]l. c., p. 285, fig. 426, Nos. 3 and 5.

[111]The use of lip-pegs has never been observed in that region between Mexico and the northwest coast of North America. W. H. Dall, Public of the Bur. of Ethnology, 1881-82, III, p. 86.

[112]Smiths. Contrib.,l. c., p. 304.

[113]l. c., p. 338, fig. 493.

[114]For the use of spears in California comp. Powers,l. c., pp. 221, 321, etc.

[115]No decorative or fantastic shapes were found among the obsidian objects as elsewhere in central California. Moorehead has shown some of these inl. c., p. 262. A curved hook-like object was found in the shellmound at Ellis Landing.

[116]Moorehead,l. c., p. 265.

[117]Cf. Rau, Smiths. Rep., 1874, p. 358.

[118]It is similar in form to a point shown by Abbott,l. c., p. 92, fig. 67, found in New Jersey, which he called a knife (p. 90).

[119]Comp. a similar remark in Abbott,l. c., p. 93, concerning the doubtful nature of chipped stones as implements; from the stones in their vicinity they were conjectured to be implements.

[120]Cf. Abbott,l. c., pp. 492 ff., and the same, Report of the Peabody Museum, 1876 to 1879, II, p. 33 ff.

[121]A hide-scraper fastened into a wooden shaft from the Thuswap Indians in British Columbia in the Jessup collection shown by Moorehead,l. c., p. 255, fig. 388.

[122]Pictures of scrapers, see Abbott,l. c., pp. 12 to 138.

[123]Comp. Moorehead,l. c., pp. 146, 170, 308; Abbott,l. c., Chap. VII, pp. 97 to 119.

[124]Smiths. Contrib.,l. c., p. 90, fig. 318.

[125]F. W. Putnam,l. c., p. 68, fig. 15.

[126]Moorehead,l. c., p. 340, fig. 372, fig. 1.

[127]Rau,l. c., p. 91, after P. Schumacher.

Artifacts of animal derivation appear in great numbers and in a great variety of form among the objects recovered in excavating. This diversity in form is of course partly the result of the different kinds of bone used in their manufacture, partly of their varied manipulation, and partly of the uses to which they were put. There are all grades of elaboration from the most common splinter of bone to the tool whose shape is almost entirely different from that of the bone employed. All the objects found, however, may be reduced to the principal types of bone instruments which have been found in the United States under the most varying circumstances. In addition to awls, needles and paper-cutter-like knives of bone, there are instruments of horn used principally for chiseling and instruments of a secondary nature. They were the usual tools used in making clothes,[128]in weaving baskets,[129]etc., not to mention several subordinate uses to which they were put.

[128]Schoolcraft called them “moccasin-needles.”

[129]The broom-binders of Mark Brandenburg to this day use bone awls, see Ranke,l. c., II, p. 509.

This is a large class containing more than 100 objects having various secondary forms and it is the most conspicuous class of bone instruments. They may be classified as follows:

These comprise more than 100 perfect and fragmentary specimens. They were scattered through almost all the strata in the following way:

Stratum I—8 objects.Stratum II—61 objects.Stratum III—8 objects.Stratum IV—11 objects.Stratum V—3 objects.Stratum VI— — objects.Stratum VII-VIII—5 objects.Stratum IX—5 objects.Stratum X—4 objects.

Stratum I—8 objects.

Stratum II—61 objects.

Stratum III—8 objects.

Stratum IV—11 objects.

Stratum V—3 objects.

Stratum VI— — objects.

Stratum VII-VIII—5 objects.

Stratum IX—5 objects.

Stratum X—4 objects.

The remarkable preponderance in stratum II is probably again the result of the practice of cremation of bodies.

When one remembers that awls were the principal tools used in making baskets and that baskets took the place of pottery in the household of the California Indians, one will not wonder at their great number.

Their shapes vary. Four of them are shown inplate 9, figs. 1 to 4. Fig. 1, from stratum I, gives the type by far the most common in the 3 or 4 upper strata; the other three, fig. 2, 1-8686, from stratum IV, fig. 3, 1-8897, from VIII, fig. 4, 1-8972, from IX, give examples of the many secondary forms and illustrate the diversity of form occurring in the lower strata. Although fig. 4, as regards its shape, reminds us of the type of the tool of the upper strata (cf. fig. 1), not a single implement was found in the lower strata that was the exact counterpart of those in the upper. Manifestly it was the inhabitants of the upper strata who developed and established the latter form. Its distinctive feature is this, that only one side of the bone (mostly tibia of deer) is used, that a foot-like portion of the joint is left, and that the awl is sharpened and well finished off on all sides, even to the inner channel. Usually there is a slight bulging out in the middle of the tool which increases its strength.

The characteristic feature ofpl. 9, fig. 2, is that only the shaft of the bone is open, the joint being left intact. Inpl. 9, figs. 3 and 4, the foot-like supports are missing; whether originally they were there or not is a question. They seem to have been missing from the very beginning, at least the one shown inpl. 9, fig. 3. The whole shape of the instrument is crude. In several awl-like implements of the lower strata, as in text-fig. 25, 1-8797, from stratum VII, the canal in the bone is not even opened, but kept intact through the whole instrument.[130]

Fig. 25. × 1/2. A bone, probably used for an awl. Fig. 26. × 1/2. Bone implement of unknown use.

The absence of points indicates a somewhat different use to which such instruments were put. In addition to this feature there is very frequently a peculiar curve which, while it is the natural shape of the bone, must have been chosen purposely,—for instance, 1-8692,pl. 9, fig. 5, from IV, and 1-8829, text-fig. 26, from stratum VIIa. The bone of front leg of a stag is the original form of the partly awl-shaped partly paper-cutter-like implement, 1-8579, text-fig. 27, from stratum II. A similar one from the southern part of the United States has been observed.[131]

Figs. 27 and 28. × 1/2. Bones probably used as awls. Fig. 29. × 1/2. Bone of “paper-cutter” type.

These represent a large and important class of implements which occur in numbers in several of the lower strata (V and IX), although really only in fragments; cf. 1-8985,pl. 9, fig. 6, from stratum V. They are curved sideways, and well-pointed in spite of their otherwise flat character. The interior reticulate structure of the natural bone is retained on one side of the implement.

Fig. 28, 1-8541, from stratum II, has a peculiar shape; it is broad, in the form of a channel and pointed. One of the edges of the channel seems to be worn smooth through usage. The back end is broken off.

[130]Numbers of awl-like bone implements of this kind coming from the United States have been depicted. For those from California, see H. H. Bancroft, Native Races, IV, p. 711, No. 1 (the other so-called tool, No. 2, is a natural bone without value as a tool); Moorehead,l. c., p. 271, fig. 410; F. W. Putnam, Rep. of U. S. Geogr. Survey,l. c., pl. XI, figs. 13 to 15 and 19; p. 227, fig. 104; Nadaillac,l. c., p. 49, fig. 15 (not very useful); from the southern states, for instance, Ch. C. Jones, Antiquities of the Southern Indians, 1873, pl. XVI, fig. 1; Moorehead,l. c., p. 142; Chas. Rau, Smiths. Contrib., No. 287, p. 64, fig. 238 (Kentucky, Tennessee); from shellmounds of New England; Wyman, Am. Naturalist, I, pl. 14, fig. 5, and pl. 15, fig. 9 (both repeated in Abbott,l. c., p. 213, figs. 199 and 202), from New York; Schoolcraft Archives of Aborig. Knowledge, 1860, II, pl. 49, fig. 3, with p. 90, from the Aleutian Islands, Chas. Rau,l. c., fig. 236.

[131]Moorehead,l. c., p. 142; comp. also Ch. Rau, Smiths. Contrib., No. 287, XXII, p. 64, fig. 237 (from Kentucky).

They differ from the awl-like implements in that they are intended not only to pierce an article but also to pass through it. In this class there are also secondary shapes.

1-8895,pl. 9, fig. 8, found twenty-seven feet beneath the surface in stratum VIII, may be taken as the prevailing type. The needle is a thin, pointed instrument, oval in cross section, blunt at the back end, well finished throughout. To this class also belongs a number of fragments found in different strata up to the VIIIth.

1-8901,pl. 9, fig. 9, from stratum VIII, represents this type. The needle is very slender and thin and of good workmanship. Unfortunately it is broken off at thesmooth posterior end.[132]

We have also only one specimen of this type, 1-8735,pl. 9, fig. 10, from stratum V. It is straight, round in cross section and tapering at the perforated end.[133]The bluntness of the point must be the result of use.

1-8831,pl. 9, fig. 7, a well preserved and seemingly perfect specimen, was found in stratum VIIa, in the tunnel, from eleven to fourteen feet below the surface. It consists of a long, thin rib pointed at the stronger end, thereby exposing the canal within.[134]

Among those found there is also a needle of fish bone and likewise one made from the spine of a stingray.

[132]Comp. the objects found in a shellmound in New England, Am. Naturalist, I; pl. 15, fig. 17; it, however, is broader.

[133]A similar needle from a mound in Ohio has been shown by C. L. Metz and by F. W. Putnam, Rep. of the Peabody Museum, 1880 to 1886, III, p. 452. The Point Barrow Eskimos use a similar one (J. Murdock, IXth Ann. Rep. of the Bur. of Ethnology, 1887-88, p. 318, fig. 325).

[134]It reminds one somewhat (in that it is curved and pointed) of an instrument designated, and that manifestly wrongly, by Moorehead as a hair-pin (see Moorehead,l. c., p. 271, fig. 410, under No. 4). Jeanne Carr tells of needles made usually of the strong wing bones of the hawk, used to keep the strands in place when the basket weaver left his work. These were handed down from mother to daughter generation after generation and regarded as valuable possessions. (The Californian, 1892, No. 5, p. 603.)

We have chosen to discuss a number of implements from the lower strata under this separate head. Although some of these were probably used as awls, yet along with others with which they form a small group they cannot easily be considered with the other implements of this class.Plate 7, which represents typical bone implements of the lower layers, shows the greater number of these peculiar shapes in figs. 1 to 10. Altogether about fourteen of these awl-like implements were found in stratum VIII, five in stratum IX and four in stratum X. When one considers that from layers IX and X, only small sections were explored, the relative number of these implements must excite some interest. The awl-like and needle-like objects ofpl. 9, although but little worked, are yet characterized by a definite fundamental form, different from that shown in the objects represented inpl. 7, figs. 1 to 10.[135]They represent simply bone splinters of the most varied forms such as would be made by accident. To be sure, there were isolated bone splinters in other places in the excavation, probably used as implements, as would naturally occur in a shellmound. In all of these latter cases, however, the character of the objects was, owing to the form of the bones and to the accidental or typical intention of their use, completely different. The objects shown in figs. 1 to 10 of this plate are made of fragments of somewhat thick long bones. All of them have been much used and the upper ends are strongly rounded and worn. Their use was evidently intentional both with reference to their more general and their typical uses. They do not belong to a peculiar type of implements because it is evident from their form that they were used for many purposes.

Some, as figs. 6, 7, and 8, 1-8919, 1-8918 (VIII), 1-8979 (IX), have an awl-like pointed form and may accordingly have been used as such an implement. Others, as figs. 1, 3, 4, and 10, 1-8983 (VIII), 1-9069 (X), 1-9068 (X), 1-9072 (X), although in general awl-like, are blunter and can hardly have been put to the same use as these forms just mentioned. Objects like 1-8980,pl. 7, fig. 5; 1-8996,pl. 7, fig. 9, and possibly also 1-8871,pl. 7, fig. 2, have such broad and blunt ends that for them characterization as “awl-like” would be entirely unsuitable and their use must be explained in some other way. The tie that holds them together is, therefore, in no way that of similar use but rather of analogous origin. They comprise a large number of implements having different uses. What is common to them is the similarity of the way in which they were obtained. Their use was determined by the chance form which they thereby received. There is before us then a class of the most primitive ethnological implements of which we have knowledge, in which, as in the oldest known implement of the human period, the natural form of the object determines the use, rather than the use the individual form.

[135]The principal smaller forms figured from southern California by Putnam,l. c., Pl. IX, figs. 16-17.

It is natural that in so large a number of bone implements this shape also should be represented. Five belonging to two different types have already been discussed under the grave finds. Altogether the amount of material of this character obtained from the upper strata of the mound is remarkably small. Only a small number of fragments were found, of which only a fragment of the point, 1-8803, from stratum VIII is represented in fig. 29.

In the deeper strata the case was entirely different. There are from these layers no perfect implements, only fragments, but their number is in proportion to what one would expect, or even greater. Some of these show a variety of form and a degree of ornamentation which was hardly to be expected among the finds of the mound in general and least of all among the specimens obtained from the lower strata. Little as the well formed implements, which the fragments figured inpl. 7, figs. 11-17, represent, appear to resemble the rough awl-like implements on the same plate and which have been derived from the same strata, there is yet no doubt possible that the two classes of implements must have been used by the same people.

We have therefore the task, instead of denying the contrast, of suggesting some solution for it.

These paper-cutter-like implements have a moderate width and a thickness of only one-thirty-second to one-sixteenth of an inch. They are well worked in all cases. The objects shown in fig. 12, 1-8989 (IX), fig. 14, 1-8987 (IX), fig. 15, 1-8920 (VIII), fig. 13, 1-8988 (IX), ofplate 7show artistic forms differing from the simpler types of implements. Perforation, which in the bone implements of the mound is very infrequent, is in these implements alone found four times on the lower end. The notch on the lower end ofpl. 7, fig. 14, probably the remnant of a circular section, is very artistic and one notices also curved lines on the surface about it. These show the geometric accuracy with which this work was carried out. 1-8986,pl. 7, fig. 16, from stratum IX, is the only piece of bone among all those recovered from the mound which has been engraved with geometric figures.

Out of the strongly varying yet constantly artistic characters of these fragments we are justified in drawing the conclusion that a much greater variety of implements of this form was used by these people. The variations seem to have been influenced largely by personal taste.

1-8875, fig. 11, represents a small fine point of a well formed small paper-cutter-like implement.

1-8989, fig. 12, stratum IX, is a quadrate piece of bone cut out of a “paper-cutter” and was possibly used in play.

1-8988, fig. 13, stratum IX, is the lower end of a “paper-cutter” with parallel sides and obliquely truncated at the lower end with a remarkably perfect perforation.

1-8987, fig. 14, stratum IX, is the lower part of a thin “paper-cutter” with a semi-circular notch. The base shows broken surfaces next the notch.

1-8920, fig. 15, stratum VIII, the lower, triangular part of a “paper-cutter,” which has been very broad and thin, has a small perforation.

1-8986, fig. 16, stratum IX, the middle fragment of a well-worked “paper-cutter” ornamented with geometric figures.

1-8984, fig. 17, stratum IX, is the oblong upper part of a very thin, well-worked “paper-cutter” with a perforation. The upper part is broken off.

At this place there should probably be mentioned also the small bar of bone, 1-8975, fig. 18, stratum IX, as it also comes from this stratum. This is likewise an uncommon form of implement. It is small and well worked, although not of the paper-cutter type. It is oval in cross section and has a small paper-cutter-like lower end which shows that it was fastened to some other object. Its upper end is broken.

In the middle strata of the mound there were found about eight pointed bones, of which the types are figured inpl. 9, figs. 11-16.

1-8869,pl. 9, fig. 11, stratum VII, is 2-1/8 inches long, oval in cross section and having an inferiorly constricted neck. There is a small hook on the lower end of the broad side. A small fracture on the opposite side appears to indicate that there were originally two such hooks.

1-8868, fig. 12, stratum VIII, is two inches long. This specimen is in general similar to the one just mentioned. There is only one hook at the lower end. The side opposite is without a hook and is unbroken. Similar is 1-8738, from stratum V. An analogous object is figured by Moorehead, page 273, fig. 412, No. 3, from Stockton Channel.

1-8916, fig. 13, stratum VIII, 2 inches long, is similar to the last with the differences that the small broad, flat hook points toward the broad side, and that the pointed end has been smoothed by use. On this end there are also small traces of asphaltum which indicate that a cord had sometime been wound about it to fasten it to some other object.

1-8917, fig. 14, stratum VIIaor VIII, 1-7/15 inches long with a rounded cross section, is slightly curved and gradually narrows towards the lower point. The convex side shows a slight flattening.

1-8870, fig. 15, stratum VIIaor VIII, is 1-1/2 inches long, but the lower end is incomplete. The cross section is oval to flat; it shows on the broad side a sloping groove.

1-8694, fig. 16, stratum IV, an implement 2-3/15 inches long, is typically knife-like in its form in so far as it has a broad blade-like part. It is sharp on one side, blunt on the other and rounded at the upper end. It is bent well backward. At the lower end it runs out into a small neck-like portion which is extended in the same line with the back of the implement and is broadened at the base.

The objects already described and shown in figs. 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16 ofplate 9represent the principal types. Among these the knife-like object, fig. 16, is, judging from its shape, evidently to be separated from the others.[136]Numerous other knives of obsidian occur in addition to this one of bone.

Of the remaining, fig. 14 represents a typical arrow point made of bone such as are used in various parts of the world,e.g., in South America. The convex, slightly flattened side was laid against the slightly truncated upper end of the shaft of the arrow and was fastened to it by numerous coils of cord. The figure of a similar arrow point from the Swiss Pile Dwellings is given in Ranke’s work, Vol. II, pp. 5-19, fig. 11. This shows very well the manner of attachment.

The similarity of the remaining bone points, figs. 11, 13, 14, 15, is so significant that a similar use is to be ascribed to them. That they were used as fishhooks, which might be conjectured, there appears to be less evidence. It is worth considering that Mr. Meredith found on the breast of a single skeleton 51 objects of the form shown inpl. 9, fig. 14. In another case 28 such objects were found.[137]In the first case, with the skeleton in addition to these were foundtwo long spear points with barbs such as are used on the northwest coast of America. A large number of objects from one grave and the association with other analogous objects supports very strongly the idea that the pointed bones were used for the points of arrows. The neck of these points was the portion about which the cord was wound and about this was laid a small quantity of asphaltum to hold the cord in place, while the hooks had the object of preventing the cord from sliding off from the neck. The form of the hooks varies but slightly. This suggests the prominent hooks at the base of the arrow points of stone. In a certain way these arrow points may possibly be considered as a middle form between long bone points provided with barbs, such as were used by the Eskimo, and the Indian arrow points of stone. In this connection it is worth noting that Mr. Meredith finds them in association with such bone points (also with a lip-plug such as are used on the northwest coast of America). The form of the Indian stone arrow-heads might have been imitated in the North in other materials.

That the analogy with the more northerly races is not limited to the burial layers of the mound from which the pointed implements,pl. 9, figs. 11, 15, were found is indicated by the object,pl. 7, fig. 12, which was found in the cremation layer, No. 2.

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