Drills. Drill points chipped from stone are perhaps less abundant in the Yakima country than in the Thompson River region[187] to the north. They are found of various shapes in the Nez Perce region[188] to the east but it will be remembered that they were not certainly identified among finds from the coast.[189] The specimen shown in [Fig. 47], was collected at the head of Priest Rapids, and presented by Mrs. J. B. Davidson of Ellensburg. It is chipped from a grayish chalcedony. The shaft is rather blunt at the end, possibly having been broken off, and is somewhat lozenge-shaped in cross section although one side has a less pronounced ridge than the other which causes the section to tend towards the sub-triangular. The base expands sidewise and is somewhat thinner at the end than at the shaft although it is thicker than the point. A point somewhat similar in shape, but 57 mm. long, chipped from white chalcedony, and found at Priest Rapids, was seen in the collection of Mr. Austin Mires. Another drill point chipped from black trap, 48 mm. long, and also found at Priest Rapids, was seen in the same collection. The shaft expands sidewise into a base of the form of a truncated triangle which is rather thin. [Fig. 48] shows a drill point chipped from reddish brown chert that was found on the surface near the head of Priest Rapids. The upper portion resembles the first-mentioned specimen and the lower part is somewhat similar to it but more lenticular in cross section. In other words, the implement is either double-pointed or it was intended to chip away the lower part. The lower point is so well chipped to form that it seems more likely to be a double-pointed drill.
Holes which have been drilled and apparently with such drills as these are seen in the stone objects shown in Figs. [34], [77], [81], [99], [105], [119]. The shell object shown in [Fig. 88] probably was broken; but in Figs. [76], [79], [90], [91], [93] and [94], the shell seems drilled and in Fig. [73] the antler is drilled.
Scrapers. For scraping and shaving, the objects shown in Figs. [49]-[52] would have been useful. One side of these consists of a large facet, as in the case of [Fig. 50], or is but slightly chipped. This surface on the first two specimens shows the bulb of percussion, while on the fourth all signs of the bulb have apparently been obliterated by secondary chipping along a longitudinal third, probably done to flatten the side, although as this scraper was made from a fragment of a flake rather than from the whole flake it is possible that the bulb was not on this piece. In the third specimen the bulb does not show as the object was not made from a flake but from a thin piece of chalcedony which shows striations upon both surfaces suggesting that it may have been the filling or cast of a seam from which it has separated. The upper ends of the first two specimens are somewhat convex on this surface probably because of the bulb of percussion. The lower or wider ends, which are chipped to a scraping edge from the opposite side on all the specimens are somewhat concave or at least flat as in the third specimen. The other two are not so regular in outline, but are also chipped like a scraper at the broad end and the side edges. The specimen shown in [Fig. 52] was found on the surface of the little camp site on Cherry Creek, near Ellensburg, and is of a waxy, yellowish brown chalcedony. It is shaped something like a gun flint.
There is a scraper 66 mm. long made of a greenish slate in the collection of Mrs. Davidson to whom it was presented by Mr. Owen. It is somewhat tongue-shaped and slightly concave-convex. The base is broken while the curved edge is slightly chipped on the convex side to form an edge. The point is rather thin and has been somewhat rubbed. Red paint has been daubed on the specimen which suggests that it may have been found in a grave. It will be remembered that scrapers were found, although not so frequently, in the Thompson River region[190] to the north and that in the Nez Perce region to the east,[191] they are usually irregular in form, flat on one side and convex on the other. While their chief use may have been for skin scraping, they are found by experiment to be excellent implements for planing wood, and may well have served for the scraping down of arrow-shafts, spear-shafts, and for similar work.
Fig. 49 (202-8371). Scraper chipped from Petrified Wood. From the surface, near the head of Priest Rapids. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 50 (202-8372). Scraper chipped from Agate. From the surface, near the head of Priest Rapids. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 51 (202-8373). Scraper chipped from Chalcedony. From the surface, near the head of Priest Rapids. ½ nat. size.
Fig. 52 (202-8221). Scraper chipped from Chalcedony. From the surface of the Cherry Creek Camp Site near Ellensburg. ½ nat. size.
Some of the chipped points described on [p. 23] may have been used for knife points. Among these there are a number of specimens which were particularly suited for this use. The specimen shown in [Fig. 6] may have served as a knife, possibly one used for ceremonial purposes although it may have been used as a spear point. These knives, being somewhat symmetrical differ from the one found at Kamloops[192] in the Thompson River region which was similar in shape to the knives used until recently by the Thompson River Indians.[193] These knives from the Thompson River region are chipped much more from one side than from the other and have curved points. The specimen shown in [Fig. 3] (202-8336) has an absolutely flat base which is apparently an unworked portion of the block from which the object was chipped. It is possibly an unfinished arrow point, but its outline suggests that it is a knife point. The specimen shown in [Fig. 2] is chipped from waxy red chalcedony. It has a straight end and one edge of the point is slightly more curved than the other, which together with the fact that one side is nearly flat suggests that it may have been one of those points which are considered to have been used for knives rather than for arrow or spear points. The specimen (202-8369) shown in [Fig. 1] may have served either as the tip for an arrow or as a knife point, and it may be compared with the much more deeply serrated points found in the Thompson River region.[194]
Arrow-shaft Smoothers. Arrow-shaft smoothers, made of coarse sandstone like those from the Thompson River region,[195] were not found by us in this area nor on the coast;[196] but one of these grooved stones was seen in the collection of Mr. E. R. McDonald at Ellensburg. It was collected by Mr. Dick Williams, of the same place, who found it on the west bank of the Columbia River, twenty miles north of Priest Rapids, Kittitas County. It is made of a salmon-colored gritstone, and is of the usual type, semi-cylindrical with a longitudinal groove on the flat side, in this case a very small groove such as might occur if it had not been much used. In the Nez Perce region to the east,[197] according to Spinden, there have been found an arrow-shaft smoother made up of two somewhat rectangular blocks of light tufa, each with a semi-cylindrical groove in one side and a soapstone object which he considers to be an arrow-shaft polisher, but I have considered this as a mat presser.
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