“The material of a grooved nephrite axe made by the writer is from New Zealand, and was procured through the kindness of Professor Clarke, of the United States National Museum. This stone is one of the toughest as well as of the hardest known, and when work was first commenced on it was irregular in shape as when broken from the large boulder, with sharp edges that cut the hand as the stone was struck with the hammer. In pecking with the stone hammer, about one hundred and forty blows were given to the minute. The hammers first used were of quartzite from Piney Branch, on the edge of Washington City. About forty pebbles were destroyed before one was found tough enough to stand the necessary pounding. With a single exception, none lasted more than ten minutes. The exception was a close-grained gray quartzite, with which was performed eight or ten hours’ work.
“Gabbro or black granite was then used for a hammer and was found useless; gneiss proved to be no better, and the work appeared hopeless. Finally, through the kindness of Mr. Weed, of the United States Geological Survey, a rough piece of compact yellow jasper from the Yosemite was obtained, with which about forty hours’ work was done. The jasper was worn but slightly, the nephrite losing about the same weight as the jasper. This hammer is yet large enough to manufacture many dozens, if not hundreds, of such implements as the celts and axes usually found in this section of country. With a nephrite hammer of suitable shape, having a narrow periphery, the work of fashioning this axe could probably have been done in one half the time.
“In the process of manufacture, owing to a flaw, a large piece of the blade was broken off and a second flaw, running diagonally through the specimen, threatened to destroy it if the hard pounding was continued. Work on it had therefore to be curtailed. The groove could not be worked deeper because the jasper hammer did not have a narrow edge. The outline having been carried as far as was thought safe, grinding on a block of rotten granite was resorted to; the granite was kept wet and the nephrite, being held in the hand, was rubbed backward and forward for about five hours. Subsequently it was polished with a pebble of compact quartzite, both dry and wet, the process occupying about six hours. The axe was then rubbed with wood and with buckskin to further polish it, but apparently without effect. The pecking occupied 55 hours and 10 minutes, which period, estimating the number of blows per minute as 140, would give over 460,000 blows required for the manufacture of the implement. This stone weighed when first received 7625 troy grains; the present weight is 5143 grains; the loss therefore is 2482 grains. This specimen, however, can hardly be taken as a fair standard of aboriginal work, for in selecting the material a workman would naturally choose a pebble as nearly the desired shape as could be procured, and thus avoid a large part of the labor. The savage, if we can believe the accounts given of him by early travelers, was not likely to make unnecessary exertion.
Fig. 211. (S. 1–5.) Material: granite. All are from South Dakota. Collection of Mrs. Ella V. Milliken, Alpena, South Dakota.
“In contrast to the obdurate nephrite, a block of kersantite was selected. This kersantite is from New Jersey, and is a much tougher stone than was generally used for the common stone axe or celt found in the eastern portion of the United States. The block was exceedingly rough when first taken in hand, yet it required less than two hours’ labor with an ordinary quartzite hammer to produce a comparatively well-finished axe. A good idea of the time necessary to manufacture such an implement is thus afforded. The polishing was done with sand and water rubbed with a smooth piece of quartzite, the time required being included in the time specified.”
In his later paper in the Anthropologist, for July, 1893, Mr. McGuire continues his observations. He considers that all chipped implements show a special fracture, and therefore the weight of the hammer and its material and shape “are all important elements to be considered; the intended implement must be struck with a certain weight and force, and at a particular angle, to accomplish the desired result.” Mr. McGuire, in his papers, follows out more in detail what Mr. Sellars originally observed many years before any of the experiments by men connected with the Smithsonian Institution were made.
Mr. McGuire calls attention to the difference between the heavy hammer and the light hammer-stone:—
“The battering hammer is commonly a discoidal stone, having a rounded periphery, with a pit on each flat surface intended to hold the thumb and middle finger, whilst the index finger is placed on the periphery. The pits are but slight depressions, but are sufficient to prevent the stone from slipping as the blow is given, and at the same time enable the workman to raise the index finger slightly, and thus save the jar which would otherwise in a few minutes disable the arm. The blows with the battering hammer are given at the rate of two hundred or more a minute, which would be impossible with the ordinary chipping hammer. With this hammer rapidity is essential, and the blow is ordinarily given to a broad surface, and no deliberation is necessary. Battered objects are numerous and vary greatly in size; consequently the hammer is found to vary likewise.”
