Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-30
Written for The Evening Star.
TOOLS OF THE STONE AGE,

Written for The Evening Star. IN
TOOLS OF THE STONE AGE. VI
Manufactured ut the National Museuu
Amer Primitive Methods.
MODERN PAIEoLIrHrc MAN AND HIS WORK
TURNING OUT STONE IMPLEMENTS AND WEAPONS
By THE MEANS sAvAGEs EMPLoYED-THR An.
GENT WORKSHOP ON ROCK CREEK
There is a man Of the stone age at the Ma
tional Museum. He spends his time in fashion
ing primitive implements and other objects
out Of different kinds Of rock, using no othe.
tools for the purpose than such Is were en-
ployed by people who lived in the vanished
epoch mentioned. The object for which these
labors are performed is to obtain some prac-
tical acquaintance with the methods utilized
by the primeval savage in his arts and indus
tries. 1t has been imagined that he must have
expended an enormous amount Of work in
making his nrrow-heads, hammers, &C., but
the fact seems to be that such was hardly the
case. Human beings in a crude and untutored
| stage OF existence have no relish for toll, and
on THIS account wonder has always been felt
respecting such an article as a stone ak. which
! psychologists have declared to be the product Of
SAoi % Hot heTely OI one SenerdIlOn, Out
| OF several being handed down from father to
! son and taking shape so gradually that the in
strument begun by individual might be
| finished by his grandchild.
MIR. J. ID. Mcclure, the paleolithic gentle
man referred to, has made one OF these axes
In two hours, employing only such tools as
were used by the savages Inasmuch as he
lacked practice in the art it is to be presumed
that the primitive man whom he imitat ted
could do the work much faster. II must be
n " he Nnr tha lat
! weapon or implement he did not take any
| chance rock to carve it out of. On the con-
| trary. he went to the most convenient stream
| and collected pebble that was as nearly the
| shape OF the object he wanted to make as possi-
BILE: His motive was always to save labor,
which was extremely disagreeable to him.
Then he Clipped the pebble into form or
"pecked" at 1t with another stone until ii as
sumed the required contour. finally grinding
the edge, IL one was desired. upon piece OF
sandstone, and perhaps polishing the article by
| rubbing 1t with sand and water. BY such pro-
cesses even a very obdura.e material can be re-
duced to shape quickly. Obsidian or volcanic
glass will fake into keen-edged fragments suit
aoIe Tor arrow heads or spear heads at a blow.
WHAT HIS EXPERIMENTS HAVE PROVED.
1t Is the same with other implements and
objects Of various sorts such as have been pre-
| served as relics OF the stone age. These ex-
periments have proved that they we're much
easier to manufacture than has been supposed
Mr.. Mcclure has produced number of scup-
lures in relief. after the pattern of those of
ancient Mexico, using no other tools than stone
hammers for pecking at the rock. To COM
plete his demonstration OF this interesting
subject, he has reproduced the methods of
drilling through stone which we're practiced
by primitive man. Numerous bored articles
from Central and South America, as well as
pipes tubes and pearls from North America
similarly treated. show that tho art of drilling
was well known to races living in the pure age
of stone. Some OF these holes have been
bored through twelve inches OF thickness Ever
so many cylinders from ancient Babylon and
Egyptian scarabs made of Jasper, carneliap
and other extremely hard stones, with small
holes drilled through them. have been found
showing that drilling had been brought to a
high degree OF perfection twenty-five centuries
and more ago.
The primitive drills which were doubtless
employed by these people have been utilized
by Mr.. Mcclure for boring stones Of various
KINDS. Although so simple, they do exceed
lngiy effective work. The earliest type was n
straight stick, rolled back and forth sbetween
the palms OF the hands, with sharp flake Of
flint for point. An Improvement on this is
the familiar bow drill" which was lust like
the former, save that a cross piece was at
tached to the upper eud of the stick, to be
held between the teeth of the operator, and
bow with string passed around the stick was
held in the hand and worked back and forth
to give the revolution. A further improve
ment was the pump drill" which could be
made to revolve l,JJ0 times a minute. while
there was still better device, even more
simple, which went somewhat on the principle
of II top making 5000 revolutions a minute.
although consisting of nothing more than q
stick thrust through fat block of wood, with
cross piece to be held by the teeth and a
piece OF cord. With this last instrument flint
point can be made to pierce hard stone
with surprising rapidity. However copper
points were employed very anciently. the
metal being readily procured in its native
state.
Thus the mystery which has hitherto in
VOWED the manufacture of implements and
weapons during the stone age has teen to a
great extent cleared up. 1t is pleasant to know
that the primitive savage did not devote the
labor of generations to the fashioning of a sim
gle ak, which one unluoky blow might SILVER
When such an article could be completed and
made ready for attachment to the handle
within an hour or two, and when arrow heads
and the like could be formed almost offhand
from the pebbles of the brooks, his leisure
must have been but slightly consumed by his
small necessities for exrr.ion III the mauufac.
ture OF such things. 1t is true that for every
such object completed there were a great MANY
which turned out failures. owing to flaws or
other causes This is evident from the enor-
nous quantities OF such failures left behind in
the work shops OF long ago. Where there was
an unlimited supply of pebbles of all shapes
and sizes. there was no use in bothering with
raw material that was not exactly suitable to
the purposes in view.
SPECIMENS OUT FOURTEENTH STREET
Any one who cares to examine one of these
ancient workshops can do SO very easily by
going ont to the bridge which crosses Rock
creek at l4sh street. At that point is a hill
fifty feet high, the entire surface of which for
distance OF one-eighth OF a milo and to a
depth of eight to ten feet is composed almost
wholly OF partly made paleolithic implements.
They can be picked up by the cartload and it
10 almost impossible to put ones foot down
without stepping on specimens. This locality
must have been used by the savages of long
ago for many centuries. You will not discover
there any finished tools, because the accumu-
lation consists only Of failures-those which
were found unsatisfactory and thrown away.
Nevertheless, it is very interesting to see these
products of the labor OF people who lived in
and about Washington so far back in prehis-
toric times. just such stone hammers partly
finished. can be found there as were dug up by
Schliemann in the oldest buried city beneath
Troy.
The hill of Hissarlik in Asia Minor, where
the remains of Troy were excavated, was fifty
three feet in height over bed rock, the eleva-
ton having been formed by seven cities, each
built upon the detritus covering the last
Digging down, the third city reached was the
burned town Of Troy, which the Greeks de-
atrOyel HIM