The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1904-02-09
MYSTERIOUS RELICS.
Implements of Stone Wrought by
Mound Builders.
Southern Ohio n Treasure House OF
Aboriginal Workmnnship, the
Product of Infinite
Patience.

EEOuucN OF Annntte
Patience.
No other part Of the United States has
proved such treasure house of relics of
mound builders and prehistoric man as
southern Ohio, and of this area the Sci
OTTO valley is probably the richest. One
of the unanswerable questions about the
| aborigines is, Why did they make so
many implements Of stone? And after
they had made them, at such great ex-
pense Of time and labor, why were they
so 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 specimens after every
blowing, while every meadow put into
cultivation opens up a fresh source OF
supply, states the New York Tribune.
Gerard Fowke, one of the best authori-
ties to-day, considers this abundance of
aboriginal stone implements a most per-
| picking puzzle. Did the aborigines have
such a disregard of work and time that
/
rather than hunt for lost one? Or did
they have a superstitious fear Of using
what had belonged to a previous genera
ton? Does this abundance imply
population so numerous that the loss of
even this great number Of specimens was
considered trivial matter? Does it
mean that the users were forced to mi
/ 70 10 Al.
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 it famine? Was it the plague? Was
1t the sudden encroachment of an over
whelming force of implacable enemies?
These are questions which it is
thought may never be answered with any
certainty, and they certainly cannot be
in the present state OF knowledge re-
garding the aborigines. Certain ques-
tions concerning them can however, be
answered. 1t can be told where they re-
ceived their material, and-most inter-
esting of all-how they fashioned it into
the shape they desired.
This portion of the Scioto valley was
particularly rich in the stones most COW
eted When hard, tough, heavy stone
was needed. the nearest gravel pit on
the shores of the nearest stream would
yield piece of granite or dante. The
searcher had only to select piece which
approached in shape the article he
! uffc To oh 10 e.,
and pipes could be found in the glacial
drifts; but for the great bulk of his i'm
plements, especially for his cutting ones,
the early resident Of this region required
what is commonly known as Clint"
and which, as thus used, embraces a wide
range of allied rock agate, chalcedony,
brownstone and chalk. The chalcedony
veries from almost crystal clearness to
notified black, through all the shades Of
red, blue, green, yellow and brown.
The primeval man here soon learned
that it was difficult to work such flint as
was found on the surface, because when
dry it would shatter into fragments at a
blow. Hence he quarried down after it.,
and the great excavations he left be-
hind him show what a 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 it is evident that this work was
sometimes carried along continu-
ously fcT several hundred yards, and
the vast quantities Of chips. broken ar
row points, knives. etc., found in the vi
cinity Of the flint 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 off flakes of stone with his
hammer until the implement approached
the desired shape. Let one try to-day,
with the best tools al command, to get
off even one flake, and one will appreci-
ate what task it was And yet thou
sands and thousands Of such pieces were
made and scattered carelessly over the
countryside!