These specimens are part of a deposit of forty-six and vary from eight to twenty-two inches in length. The longest one in Fig. 161 is twenty inches. All of them exhibit unusual skill in their manufacture.
Fig. 162.
The same as Fig. 161.
Fig. 163. (S. about 1–3.)
Chipped axes and hoes. F. P. Graves’s collection, Doe Run, Missouri.
CHAPTER IX
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS
According to our classification, we should place under our first division, “Chipped objects, without Stem,” all the spades and agricultural implements except those that are stemmed, or notched. Some of the Pennsylvania roughly chipped hoes might be considered as stemmed. But the chipped hoes of the Mississippi Valley are simply angular spades to which have been added notches by the aborigines. I have, therefore, thought best to describe them all under the general title of agricultural implements.
Fig. 164. (S. 1–3.) These specimens were found in Illinois and made of Mill Creek, Illinois, material. H. M. Whelpley’s collection, St. Louis, Missouri.
It is quite likely that some of them are ceremonial in character rather than mere agricultural tools; for one cannot conceive that the fine work on the lower specimens in Fig. 167 is indicative of use as a common digging-tool.