FLUTED STONE AXES
Of effigy mounds, native copper implements, and fluted stone axes the State of Wisconsin may be said to possess a monopoly. These are features peculiar to her interesting archæology. The following information concerning the fluted axes is furnished by Mr. Charles E. Brown, chief of the State Historical Museum of Wisconsin, who has personally examined a large number of specimens:
Fig. 279. (S. nearly 1–1.) Fluted axe. Edge view of Fig. 278. Joseph Ringeisen collection, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Fig. 280. (S. a trifle over 1–2.) Double-grooved axe to the left. Two peculiar axes at the right. Wisconsin types.
“The so-called fluted or ornamented stone axes are distinguished from those of all other sections of the United States by the shallow or well defined ornamental grooves which have been pecked or ground into the surfaces of their blades and polls. In the accompanying plates figures of a number of examples of these curious and interesting axes are shown. Several distinct styles of ornamentation are illustrated. Such ornamentation is not confined to any special form or forms of Wisconsin axes. Neither is it confined to only well made or finely finished axes. Many of the specimens which have received decorative treatment of this nature are themselves but rudely fashioned, or of very ordinary form; some have received rough use at the hands of their aboriginal owners, as is evidenced by their fractured polls and blades. A small number are gracefully shaped axes, with surfaces ground smooth or highly polished. These may be truthfully said to represent the highest attainment of the ancient axe-maker’s art. The greater number of these axes have the surface of the blade ornamented with from one to five or more parallel longitudinal grooves which extend from just below the handle groove to within a short distance of the cutting edge. The grooves are separated from one another by plane surfaces, or well-marked ridges.
Fig. 281. (S. 1–2.) Fluted axe. R. Kuehne’s collection, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A remarkable specimen.
“A few specimens have transverse or diagonal grooves (see Fig. 276). Occasionally but one surface of the blade is fluted, the other being devoid of ornamentation. In many instances there is a difference in either the number of the grooves, or in the manner of the arrangement of the grooves on the two faces of the blade. Thus the grooves on one side may be longitudinal and on the other side transverse. One well-known specimen has the grooves arranged in the form of a chevron (see no. 1, Fig. 276) and several have circular figures pecked into the surfaces of their blades. The specimen in the lower right-hand corner of Fig. 277 is unique in having both longitudinal and transverse grooves on one face of its blade.
Fig. 282. (S. 1–2.) C. A. Perkins’s collection, Wakefield, Massachusetts. A fine example of the double-grooved axe.
Fig. 283. (S. 1–1.) Phillips Academy collection. Two small objects in celt-axe class and a beautiful double-edged axe from a ruin near Phoenix, Arizona.
“A small number of axes have both ornamented blades and polls. In some specimens the poll only is ornamented. The method of its ornamentation may consist of a number of grooves radiating from the crown downwards toward the handle groove, as seen in no. 4, Fig. 276, or of a spiral groove, or a circle, or number of concentric circles, as are shown in the other types illustrated. There are other styles of treatment.
“The finest examples of the fluted stone axes are undoubtedly those of the long-bitted form (see Figs. 277, 281). One of these has eighteen longitudinal grooves cut into the two faces and front of its blade. In their style and finish these graceful, slender axes are unsurpassed. A small number of fluted celts and fluted grooved hammers have also been found. Several of these are in the State Museum.
“We now have record of the recovery of about two hundred and fifty fluted stone axes and other implements in Wisconsin, a considerable increase since 1901 when the existence of only slightly over one hundred was known. Almost all come from the southern half of the state and the greater number from eastern Wisconsin. None are known to have been secured from mounds or graves.
“Fine series of these axes are now to be seen in the collections of the Logan Museum, at Beloit, in the Milwaukee Public Museum, and in the State Historical Museum at Madison. Several private collectors also possess fine examples. There are a few specimens from Wisconsin in Eastern museums.
“Outside the State of Wisconsin only a few fluted implements have been found. Mr. Harlan I. Smith has described a fluted celt from the Saginaw Valley in Michigan, and Dr. David Boyle another from Ontario. We should expect to find a few stray examples in the adjoining states of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, but none have yet been reported.
“The significance of the fluted ornamentation of these axes is unknown.”