The Meeker herald., 1904-02-13

| II Y treasuGe house of relies OF
| Mxxx mound builders and pre-
historic nan as Southern Ohio, and for
this area the Scioto Valley is probably
the richest. One of the unanswernble
| questions about the aborlglnes is. Why
| did they make so many implements OF
| stone? And after they had made them
| Mt such Il great expense of time and Ia
Dor. why were. they 30 careless with
them? The great abundance of these
relics is to many psychologists the
greatest mystery about them. Fields
| which have been carefully cleaned
year after year still turn up fresh spec
linens after every plowing.. while every
meadow put into cultivation opens up
| fresh source of supply.
Gerard Fowke, one OF the best aW
| thorities to-day. considers this abun'
dance OF aboriginal stone implements
most perp,exing puzzle. Did the
aborigincs have such n disregard OF
work and time that they preferred to
make new implement rather than
hunt for n lost one? Or did they have
a superstitious fear of using what had
belonged to n previous generation?
Does this abundance imply popula-,
| ton so numerous tina the loss of even
| this great number of specimens was
| considered trivial matter3 Does II
mean that the users were forced to MI
crate SO unexpectedly that they were
unable to take their possessions along
with them. or did they gradually be-
come extinct in the neighborhood
where these remains are found? And,
in either event, what led to this result!
Was 1t famine? Was 1t plague: Was
It the sudden encroacbment of an ov-
| erwhelming force OF implaeable ene'
mics?
These IRE questions which 1t Is
| thought may never he answered Win
any certainty and they certainly can
not be In the present statesof knowi-
edge regarding the aborigines. Ger
tain questions concerning them can.
however. be answered. 1t can be told
where they received their material.
and-most interesting of nll-hOw they
| fashioned 1t into the shape they de-
sired.
This portion Of the Scloto Valley was
particularly rich In the stones most
coveted. When hard, tough. heavy
stone was needed. the nearest gravei
nj. on the shores Of the nearest stream
would yield piece of granite or dia-
mite. The searcher had only to select
n piece which approached IN shade
the article he wished to make. Slate
for ornaments and pipes could be
found In the glacial drifts; but for the
great bulk of his implements. especi-
ally for his cutting ones, the early res
ident OF this region required what 10
commonly known as flint" ana wnicn.
Ms thus used, embraces whole Wide
range of allied rock agate, chalcedony.
brownstone and chalk. The chaice-
dony varies from almost crystal clear
ness to notified black, through all the
shades Of red. blue, green. yellow ana
| brown.
The primeval man soon learned that
It was difiicult to work such flint us
was found on the surface. because
when dry 1t would shatter into frag-
ments at n blow. Hence he quarried
down after it, and the great excnva-
| tons he left behind him show what
tremendous amount OF stone he used.
The Quarrying was accomplished by
the aid of fire, which caused the rock
to shatter, water probably being
thrown on to hasten the work. From
the appearance Of the trenches 1t is
evident that this work was sometimes
carried nlong continuously for several
hundred years. and the vast quantities
of chips. broken arrow points, knives,
etc., found in the vicinity OF the mint
| beds indicate that most of the material
was worked up on the spot.
The amount Of labor involved in this
dressing down process is staggering.
Day after day the workman must have
sat chipping of fakes OF stone with his
hammer until the implement ap-
preached the desired shape. Let one
try to-day, with the best tools Mt COM
mapd. to get off even one fake, and
one will appreciate what task 1t
was. And yet, thousands and thou
sands of such pieces were made ana
scattered carelessly over the country
| side!
Indeed, so difficult seems this work
that many persons hive fixed belief
that the finer relics, at least, could have
been made only with metal tools. and
their abundance is held to prove that
primeval man knew of some metal
much harder and of better temper than
anything known to-day. 1t is argued
that not even a file, the hardest Of mod
ern tools, will make any impression on
some of these flfnts; therefore they
must have been made with something
much harder than the best steel. Some
persons even assert that primeval man
had discovered way of hardening cop
per to the necessary degree, and say
that they have seen pieces of copper
so treated.
As matter of fact. ms Mr.. Fowke
himself points out. this is in direct op-