Polished stone articles used by the New York aborigines before and during European occupation

by William Martin Beauchamp

Excerpt from Polished Stone Articles, Vol. 4: Used by the New York Aborigines Before and During European Occupation

In considering polished stone articles as a class, it is necessary to divide some departments, as pipes, ornaments, and vessels of various kinds, much alike in form and use, but not in material. The modes of manufacturing these, however, are sometimes so different that no farther excuse need be made. Clay and stone specially mark eras in human progress.

Under this head will also be included picked implements, for picking was commonly part of the process of forming polished articles, which are found in all stages of development. The picked implement was rarely finished. Sometimes grinding was the first act of all, but not in general. A few stones, naturally formed for use, might receive an edge at once. More commonly they were chipped, picked and polished as time or needs permitted. This is most frequently seen in the case of celts and gouges, where the same site may yield every gradation, from the rudest to the finest. And sometimes unite every process in one implement.

102 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1976

About the author

William Martin Beauchamp (March 25, 1830 – 1925) was an American ethnologist and Episcopal clergyman. He published several works on the archeology and ethnology of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) in New York.
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