File:Indians of Manhattan Island and vicinity - (1921) (14784756515).jpg

Identifier: indiansofmanhatt00skin_0 (find matches)
Title: Indians of Manhattan Island and vicinity /
Year: 1921 (1920s)
Authors: Skinner, Alanson, 1886-1925.
Subjects: Manhattan Indians Indians of North America
Publisher: (New York) : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: Columbia University Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: The Durst Organization

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
. Specimensmade of pink flint resembling stone from the Flint Ridge of Ohio, andof jasper found to the south of this region, have been recorded. Bluntarrow points are rare, the Indians probably preferring wooden arrowsfor this type. Many of the so-called blunt points found in collectionsappear to be scrapers made over from broken arrow points of a large size. The triangular type has long been regarded by the local collectors ofthis vicinity as being the type used in war, the argument being that as ithas no stem, it was necessarily but loosely fastened in its shaft and, ifshot into the body, would be very liable to become detached and re-main in the flesh if any attempt were made to withdraw it by tugging atthe shaft. While it was no doubt perfectly possible to fasten a point oftriangular shape to the shaft as firmly as a notched point, the discoveriesof Mr. George H. Pepper at Tottenville, Staten Island, where twenty-three arrow points were found in and among the bones of three Indian
Text Appearing After Image:
KNIVES AND SCRAPERS 24 AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS skeletons, tend to strengthen this theory. While the majority of pointsfound there were of bone or antler, all those made of stone were of thistype; indeed, most of the bone points were also triangular in shape.However, it is well to bear in mind that arrow points of triangular typewere used for every purpose by all the early Iroquois tribes of New York. Spear Points and Knives. None of the early accounts of con-temporary European writers seem to mention the use of spears (otherthan bone or antler-headed harpoons) by the Indians hereabouts, andit is probable that the larger arrow-point-like forms found were used asknives or cutting tools. They are usually notched or stemmed, rarelytriangular, and occasionally round or oval. They vary in size, but itmust be remembered that one tool may have had various uses, and thatdrills, knives, and scrapers may often have been combined in one imple-ment. Scrapers. Scrapers were probably used in

Note About Images