Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-07
ARROWS OF THE STONE AGE.


Some Interesting Facts About Their Manu-
facture by Primeval Men.
s<PTEERE ARE FEW THINGS MORE IN
Il teresting in this world than the instru-
ment Of warfare and the chase called the arrow.
illustrating as II does in ito development the
early history Of mankind" said Prof. Otis T.
Mason to STAR reporter. Down to the If
teentk century the arrow was the most cele-
brated and most widely distributed missile OF
destruction, when it began TO be displaced by
the bullet. Before it gave place to firearms
have no doubt II wrought more death than the
substitute has since produced.
''Ths displacement of the arrow was tardy
even in the birthplace of firearms, and WAS
brought abou. not by the facility with which
the musket could os handled, but by the eff
cheney Of srmor against the more primitive
weapon. In lands distant from the center of
European culture the arrow has not yet disap-
psared, and the day % its birth 10 hidden in the
remotest past. TIE continent Of America origi-
nally Furnished The best Of means for the de-
velopment of the winged messenger.
Primitive man became q mineralogist
almost With the first use nf stone for his arrow
heads, for he bad TO consider grain, density
and toughness. and it was not long, perhaps,
before color and translucency became important
considerations through the associations Of ideas
OF mystic nature. When an arrow head was
to be made 1t was necessary first to secure the
raw material. Erosive agencies had scattered
countless fragments of taxable stones over the
face OF the country, and these were gathered
and utilized; but when such materials became
scarce or were not within convenient reach exca-
walton was resorted to. This led to the dis
covery that freshly exhumed stone was more
easily worked than that seasoned by long expo
sure, and thus the art Of qusrrying came into
existence.
EARLY QUARRYING.
"1n past ages rocks were extensively broken
up by the forces Of nature and countless num-
bers Of fragments were taken up by water and
ice. rolled and rounded, and finally deposited
in beds Of gravel along the banks Of rivers
In this rolling process all the soft and friable
stones were reduced to powder, while the
tough, finty. taxable pieces were selected and
preserved, as If by intelligent design. for the
use OF the man Of the stone age. When detached
fragments and powders were not sufficiently
plentiful the rocks in places were attacked
splinters being broken of them, and lodges
were followed deep into the earth. In Arkansas
there are pits dug In the solid rock to the
depth Of twenty-five feet and having a width
OF 100 feet or more while in Ohio and other
In the District of Columbia extensive quarries
were opened in the gravel-bearing bluffs and
millions of quartzits and quartz powders were
secured and worked.
'The extent Of this early quarrying in history
has not until recently been realized. Such
work has been considered beyond the powers
Of savages, and when the ancient pits we're OBJ
served they were usually attributed to the gold
hunters OF early days, and in the south are still
known as Spanish diggings. From Maine to
Oregon and from Alaska to Peru the hills and
mountains are SCARED with pits and trenches.
THE ANCIENT METHODS OF ouARRYINa
are not we'll known, and up to the present
time no tools have been discovered save rude
stone hammers improvised for the purpose
Picks of bone or antler and pixies of wood were
probably employed. Associated with these
pittings are ample evidences of the object of
their excavation. Great heaps or encircling
ridges OF refuse, in cases containing hundreds
ments, flakes. failures and tools broken in use
and left behind when the work ended-are
found. study of this refuse usually indi-
Gates clearly the nature and extent of the work
carried on. In all these quarries Of early DAYS
the leading feature Of the work done seems TO
have consisted in the selection of suitable
pieces, which were reduced on the spot to forms
approximating the final objects. These fakes
and roughed-out forms, thus tested for ma
terial and reduced to general shape and to size
convenient for transportation, were taken away
| shapes. Fire was often employed as an aid.
THE taking Of stone specially that part of
1t relating to the making Of arrow points. is
often spoken OF as lost art, but It is still
practiced by many Of our aboriginal tribes,
| and it appears that almost any one can learn
by little practice to do the work"