Life Histories of Manufactured Objects.

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The story of the manufacture of the objects found from the securing of the raw material to their finished and to their worn out and broken condition is not shown completely in the case of more than one class of objects, viz., chipped implements, but in a number of cases the signs of manufacture have not been entirely obliterated and some specimens are figured and described which are undoubtedly in process of manufacture. Plate III, Fig. 1 shows a quarry from which material for the manufacture of chipped implements was obtained. A description of this has been given on p. 16. Here could be seen the hammers, one of which is illustrated in Fig. 40, that were used in breaking up the raw material, and the material in various stages of chipping and flaking together with the waste products. In Plates I and II may be seen the more or less completed chipped implements. If points of antler were used as flakers, they were either not found or recognized by us. According to Mr. Cotton, there are numerous chips within the "fort" mentioned on p. 82. One other example of a series illustrating the life history of an object may be mentioned, namely, that of the pestles. Many oblong pebbles suitable for pestles without being changed from their natural form were seen in both the Yakima and the Columbia Valleys. Other pebbles required but slight shaping to bring them to the required form. Fig. 22 illustrates such a pebble which is in process of shaping by pecking or bruising and Fig. 43 shows a suitable tool for executing the work. After being fully shaped by this process such pestles were polished but the materials used for this purpose, whether sandstones and similar abrasives, the horse tail rush or the bare hand, are not known.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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