The top was partly cut off and then broken across, while one side edge shows where the antler was grooved lengthwise for over half its length, from the inner surface and then broken out. This shows that the process of cutting up pieces of antler in this region was similar to that employed in cutting both antler and nephrite, in the Thompson River region and on the coast of British Columbia and Washington. It has since been battered. One side shows the nearly flat outer surface of part of the antler, the other has been cut off to form the wedge, which is constricted towards the point so that it assumes a somewhat spatulate form. This specimen is twisted, until the point is in a plane about 45° from the poll. It was collected by Mr. Owen who believes it to have been used as a spatula for grinding paint upon the surface of a rock. Wedges made of elk antler are common in the Nez Perce region where they are said to have almost completely supplanted celts.[148]
Although no wedges were found by us in the Yakima Valley proper, and we can mention only these two specimens in the whole Yakima region yet it seems probable that they were here used and for the same purposes as in the Thompson River region to the north, the Nez Perce area to the east and on the coast to the west for splitting timber, for cutting firewood and for general carpenter work. Perhaps their relative scarcity here, as compared with the Thompson and the Nez Perce country, may be explained by supposing that wooden wedges, such as are more common than antler wedges on the coast, and which may have decayed were here used more than those made of antler.
While the stone hammers or pestles with convex bases, which are described on [p. 39] et seq. were probably largely used for crushing food and other material; yet some of them and those with concave bases, were undoubtedly sometimes used as hammers for driving wedges, setting stakes, pinning out skins and for similar purposes.
Fig. 40 (202-8128). Hammerstone. From quarry on north side of Naches River about two miles above its mouth. ½ nat. size.
Hammerstones. The deeply pitted hammer, such as is found in the Mississippi Valley, was not seen here, and it will be remembered[149] that they were not found in the Thompson River region. Tough pebbles, however, were used for pounding. At the quarry shop mentioned on [p. 16], we found a number of pebbles that were evidently used in breaking up the material out of which to make chipped implements. One of these (202-8129) is merely a water-worn pebble, 73 mm. long, an edge of which has been broken off, and a sharp corner shows signs of its having been used as a hammer, as it has been battered and shows where one large chip has come off. It will be remembered that in the vicinity of the shop where the specimen was found, pebbles were rarely if ever seen, although the surface of the ground was covered with weathered fragments of volcanic rock. Another specimen (202-8127) found at the same place, shown southeast of the quarry pit, in [Fig. 1, Plate III], is 155 mm. long and of a rather irregular cross section. The ends are battered and fractured from use. Apparently it may have been held between the two hands and used in breaking off large pieces of material. A longer hammer pebble, bearing the same catalogue number, and found at the same place, shows on the top of the quarry dump to the left centre in [Fig. 1, Plate III]. It is about 270 mm. long. In cross section it tends to be triangular with rounded corners. The ends are battered and long slivers have been broken off. The specimen shown in [Fig. 40] is from the same place, shorter, but similar in that the section is sub-triangular and that each end is both battered and slivered. Other battered pebbles and fragments slivered from them were found at the same place. The hammerstone shown in [Fig. 41] was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids. It is an oval pebble, nearly twice as wide as it is thick, of yellowish brown color, which has been used for a hammer, as is indicated by the battered and chipped condition of its ends.
Another specimen, shown in [Fig. 42], is made of a hard, dark green or bluish, water-worn pebble. It was found in the Snake River Valley, twenty miles above the mouth of the river, and is in the collection of Mr. Owen. Both ends are battered and the margins of the battered surfaces are chipped. Mr. Owen says such objects were used in pecking pestles, mortars, and similar implements into shape. [Fig. 43] illustrates one of these hammerstones, found on the surface at Kennewick. It is a part of a pebble of tough dark blue material, apparently glassy basalt. One side edge and one end have been chipped and show large scars on each side of the side edge and several on one side of the top. Near the middle of one side, and opposite it on the other side edge, there are signs of pecking which suggest an attempt at grooving. The lower corner of the pebble shows signs of having been used as a hammer for pecking. A small spatulate pebble slightly curved (202-8215), found at the same place, is battered entirely around the edge of its larger end and in one place on the side of the narrow end. The battering has given it a smooth surface in places which suggests that it was used for pecking, rather than chipping. A large, rather flat, oval pebble (202-8213) from the same place has large chips off from both sides of its edge in three places, three fourths of its edge being so chipped. This seems more likely to be a hammerstone used for chipping.
