Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-11-21
STUDY OF AN ABORIGINAL ART
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS IN
MAKING STONE IMPLEMENTS.
A siudent o& the Manners and Gus
tom. Of the American Indian In
yeStigniinR M Industry in which
the Red Man WINS Proficient.

teresting experiments are being made
at the National museum, the results OF
which up to this time. the public has
not been allowed to share. The con-
due,or OF these Is Mr.. ]. D. Mcclure Of
Eiiicott City Nd. who has all his life
been interested in indian rehcs. ov4ng
ono OF the few individual collectors
who has ever pu; his discoveries TO any
practical use. HIS purpose is TO de-
terrnlne how long the Indian was en-
gagged in making his stone implements,
what methods he employed In their
manufacture, the nature Of the tools he
used and every detail Of the ancient
pre-Colnmbian American stonemakers
mechanical knowledge. He has copied
almost every tool or u,cnsil that the
red man was ever known 10 make, and
the beauty OF his experiments is that
all these various arrow points, spear
heads. battle axes. hammers. hatchets,
grinders, mortars ana the scores OF
other things which he has turned out
have been prepared only with the tools
found In the ancient Indian habita-
tons throughout the land.
When the Indian wanted to make a
battle AK he did not try to work a
round cobble stone Into wedge shaped
form, nor did he spit pieces OF The
solid rock. usually for that purpose.
II has always been one Of his charac-
terlsucs to make his head save his
heels as much as possible. When he
was bunting on the pralries or walk
Ing the forest he was taught from
childhood to gather all the stones which
appeared pointed and which could easl-
ly be nattened to a blade on one side
Under the microscope the rough stone
hammers, which were believed to be
grinders or weapons, are found to bear
the same indications OF battering whisn
appear on the surfaces Of some Of the
axes themselves. This leads to the
conviction that some OF the manufac-
turing strokes put upon these larger
weapons were done by pounding with
hammers OF stone harder than that In
the weapon itself The finishing touches
could easily have been done by rub
bling or grinding ON other stones. and
thus, II would seem, only a day would
be employed at the utmost. for conn
pletlng the bcst AK head to be found.
The work emplOyed.in making the ar
row head Is much simpler than that eX-
pended on the tomuhawk II Is thought
that very much the same methods
We're used in cutting flint and other
hard stone as the glass cutter now cIn-
plOys In nibbllng the edges Of window
plnes. Hard stones pressed against
the sharp edges Of softer ones will
work them INTO shape-after pieces OF
the proper size have been split from the
nolid rock or from stones too large in
bulk to be cut down Horn and bone
are probably the best implements for
mlbbllnB stones of high degrees OF hard
ness The brittle flint and quartzlte
ore the easiest worked with n horn or
bone.
Tie various results which have been
obtained from working different kinds
OF stones have led Mr. Mcclure TO
regard an doctrines establishing a di-
vision Of the stone age into cpochs rep
resentlng different degrees OF finish on
surfaces as erroneous and unfounded
There is no great difference in the work
OF hatterlnE, grinding or chipping a
rough pebble stone or piece of boulder
into an implement. No higher stand
ard Of intellect ls believed TO be re-
CURED from Il savage who Erlnds n
tomahawt than from one who chips
an arrow head. outline forms which
could easily be ground into most any
Implements. as well as AK heads, be-
fore REFER to IN this connection. are
to be found each day I'm the rivers or
streams having q rapid fan. Hammer
ing or bo'terlng one stone against tho
other Is one Of the first steps in stone
working which savage would be like
~ TO discover. II he cracked nuts or
crushed roots regularly between two
rocks he soon learned that such action
wore n cavity In one or smoothod the
huliAoe OF tho other, But chipping
stone which process has generally been
supposed TO be the first means Of shup-
ing implements used In the early DAYS
of the stone age, Is the most difficult
task OF any to perform Even in the
reasonably modern times the art OF
chipping gun ilints was considered to
be a proud accomplishment, and IL was
cenhned for long time to English clt-
l4ens, although suitable material
nhoundod In an parts OF the civilized
world Workmcn were even sent to
IlEiAhu uufing the time the flint-lock
muHNet Was Ia vogue to learn this arr
Most OF the axes made at the mu-
scum are peckcd with hammers OF ertr-
" quartzite; u milestone Is arterwar,l
rubbed over the surface while h h
uamp, Ihc McNlcans and some other
nations brought their indictments ~
stone 10 q higher state OF polisb fb,n
did the American indiana Tn anish
mas been obtained by the free use Of
N''''NN NNNA' Ut emery The etone.
hammer appears 20 have been used
also on the sculpture not only OF Cor
tral and South America. but OF E,,,n,
a.ao' Thehpn paintings Of the eariiest
eSypu9n dynas los sugEest Mar pn,
Ilen Woiked with hammers almost pre-
elsciy like those found amonr ~.
american ahoIlgines, This Indicates
some connection between the continent,
~ regard 10 the use or this impienent
The discovery adds to tho list ~ 80,
Ile,its 20 'he effect that the earliest
uneeaanleal and artistic knowledge Of
pre- oiumoinn America was borrowed
from the old world
Iosether with these Investigations 90
weapops aud implement malsinr ~.
srlhllng packing ana rhlpplnp e,9,,.;
hlVnls have been made with tbo IAN.
used Tor perforating stones. nssd ~
me Manufacture OF pines ana an,
fe,cs. FOUND with regular o,.li,i,s,,,
holes' indicating knowledge OF hnri,,r.
such hard substances.
You Deserve Good shnl,in,
Md chlls and fever win c,ve i,
~ You don't taRe defensive measures
70 escape the periodic seourge ID -
zion where Il Is prevalent. Ths ~,
safeguard and remedy Is Iroe,o,tor,
stomach BltterS. which IL free grn,,,
any objections applicable 10 oufnin,
ana Is Infinitely more effectual Vhar
ever on this continent and n *.
trophies malarlal complaints ara mot
Nruient and general tha bitt.