Fig. 63. (S. 1–4.) Knives of various forms and material, from Maine sites. Collection of E. T. Wing, South Portland, Maine.
Most investigators in archæology assume that man’s first stone implements were palæolithic, or rude stone hatchets used without handles, and through a long process of evolution was obtained the leaf-shaped and later the shouldered and stemmed chipped objects, the heads of arrows and spears. I am willing to accept the conclusions of these observers, but while it is true the implements made by man passed through regular process of evolution from the simple form to more complicated and serviceable, yet it is undoubtedly true that many tribes living in the past thousand years made use of as crude implements as those of glacial times. In the same tribe were in use flint implements of superior workmanship and high finish and rudely chipped objects as well. The rudeness of an object is no evidence of its antiquity. The locality, rather, is the deciding factor. All depends upon the position in which the implement was found and the surrounding soil or gravel or clay.
Fig. 64. (S. 1–2.) Typical New Jersey knives. Material: black flint and argillite. Stephen Van Rensselaer’s collection, Newark, New Jersey.
We have remarked in the foregoing pages on types of implements assumed to be very old. Independent of whether an implement is finished or unfinished, thousands or hundreds of years old, it is susceptible of classification. We find that chipped implements include all objects worked from flint, chert, quartz, argillite, chalcedony, obsidian, agatized wood, carnelian, jasper, rhyolite, etc. The range is from a large flint agricultural implement to a minute arrow-point. This division embraces everything from a block of quarry flint to a delicate, perfect flint hairpin. Not excluding broken pottery, chipped objects are more numerous in America than other artifacts. Classifications have been made by Mr. Gerard Fowke and Dr. Thomas Wilson. With some changes the Committee on Nomenclature accepted these classifications. However, I have thought best to add numbers to the list, as I think that certain types have been omitted.
Fig. 65. (S. 1–2.) Types of Northern knives. Collection of F. M. Caldwell, Wisconsin
Many insignificant bits of flint scales or chips show worked edges. Hasty examination of a given amount of material from a village-site does not give one adequate conception of the use to which ancient man put the material. The savage was saving, the white man is extravagant.
Fig. 66. (S. about 1–2.) One Tennessee disc, one drill, two scrapers, and one small oval knife. C. Albee’s collection, Redrock, Montana.