Fig. 42.—Grooved ax, showing curved edge.
Partly finished specimens show that the groove was pecked out and the edge ground before the remaining parts of the ax were worked. Some have the edge ground sharp and the groove worn smooth or even polished by long use, while all the rest of the implement retains the original weathered surface. A stone was always chosen that could be brought to the desired form with the least labor, and very often one could be found that required but little work to make a very satisfactory weapon or implement or even ornament.
Occasionally specimens indicate by the manner of wear their application to certain kinds of work. Sometimes the edge is curved by the wearing away of one face until it has almost a gouge form; sometimes the side of the blade next the hand, again that farthest away, is more worn. This in time would give the blunt-pointed edge. A peculiar finish of the lower part of the blade, which is also seen in a few celts, is shown in [figure 42], of sienite, from Carter county, Tennessee. One half of each face has been left full, and the part opposite hollowed out, giving an ogee curve to the edge. [Figure 43], of granite, from Jefferson county, Tennessee, seems to have a ridge on the upper side of the groove; but closer examination shows that it once had a groove projection, and that afterwards the poll was nearly all broken away and a new groove made lower down, so that what was originally the lower projection is now above the groove, the remainder of the poll being worked down to a point.
There are a few hammers which differ from the ordinary ax only in being blunt instead of sharp. They may be nothing more than broken axes, utilized as hammers instead of being resharpened.
Fig. 43.—Grooved ax, showing single groove projection.
Under this head may be placed implements plainly used as adzes. They are much longer than axes in proportion to their other dimensions, have one face convex, the other straight or concave. They may be placed in the same class as the specimen shown in [figure 39], and also those represented in [figures 44] and [45], from McMinn county, Tennessee. There is also a similar adze from Saline county, Arkansas. All the specimens of this class are of argillite.
With the grooved axes is also placed a class of implements that may be called axes notched on the sides. Many of them were no doubt used as sinkers; but some of the same form, size, and material have the notches and sometimes portions of the face worn perfectly smooth, while frequently they are ground to a sharp edge. Again, even in those that have not the least polish, the edge shows marks that would seem to result from use as axes, adzes, or hoes.
There are three divisions of this class of implements, as follows: