perhaps the best specimens of art left by any people to whom the use of metal was unknown, and that in examining the archæological collections of Europe, I have seen no objects produced under similar circumstances which display an equal degree of skill in the art of fashioning stone.

Ancient Stone Axes from North Germany,

A DEPOSIT OF AGRICULTURAL FLINT IMPLEMENTS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.

BY CHARLES RAU.

In an article published in the Smithsonian report for 1863 I gave, for the first time, an account and drawings of certain North American flint implements of

large size and superior workmanship, which were evi-
dently used by the aborigines for cultivating the soil
and other digging purposes, and hence, according to
their shape, classified by me as shovels and hoes. The
annexed figures represent both kinds of implements.
I described the shovels (Fig. 1) as oval plates of flint,
flat on one side and slightly convex on the other, the
outline being chipped into a sharp edge. The speci-
men here figured measures above a foot in length, a
little more than five inches in its greatest breadth, and
is about three-quarters of an inch thick in the middle.
Others are narrower and not quite as heavy. The
shape of the hoes is illustrated by Fig. 2. This speci-
men is seven and a half
2

inches long, nearly six
inches wide, and about
half an inch thick in
the middle. The roun-
ded part forms a sharp
edge. The material
of which these imple-
ments are made is a
peculiar kind of bluish,
gray or brownish flint,
of slightly conchoidal
fracture, and capable
I never

of splitting into large flat fragments.
succeeded in discovering this stone in situ. The
agricultural implements of my collection were all
found in St. Clair county in southern Illinois,

with the exception of one shovel, which was dug up in 1861 in St. Louis, during the construction of earthworks for the protection of the city. Both shovels and hoes were, doubtless, attached to handles, those of the latter probably forming a right, or even an acute angle with the stone blade, which is always provided with two notches in the upper part to facilitate the fastening.*

* I quoted a passage from Du Pratz, which is, perhaps, referable to the hoes. According to this author, the natives of Louisiana had invented a hoc, (pioche) with the aid of which they prepared the soil for the culture of maize. "These hoes," he 66 says, are shaped like a capital L; they cut with the edge of the lower part, which is entirely flat."-Histoire de l Louisiane, Paris, 1758. Vol. II, p. 176.

Plate XXI, in vol. II of De Bry, (Frankfort, 1591,) represents Florida Indians of b sexes engaged in field labor, the men using the hoe and the women sowing. The Latin text (by Le Moyne) accompanying the engraving states that the hoes are made of fish-bone, (ligones e piscium ossibus) and provided with wooden handles. The women sow beans and maize-"feminæ fubus & milium sive Mayzum serunt."

perhaps the best specimens of art left by any people to whom the use of metal was unknown, and that in examining the archæological collections of Europe, I have seen no objects produced under similar circumstances which display an equal degree of skill in the art of fashioning stone.

Ancient Stone Axes from North Germany,

A DEPOSIT OF AGHIOCENT TREMENTS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

BY CHARLES RAU

time, an account and drawings of certain North American font implente of In an article published in the Smithsonian report for 1961 I gave, for the first

large size and superior workman-hop, which were si

dently used by the aborigines for cultivating the sol
and other digging purposes, and hence, cording to
their shape, classified by me where hor
annexed figures represent both kne of imple

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I described the shose! 411, al plate of the flat on one side and

outline bere

men here f

little more

....

men

the

of splitting ato Succeeded in ser agnenitural

Sommet in St.
Til de pe ♫

Le construct

les were,

17ght, or

7

Tomoted

o this author her prepared amital L

stane P

Plate XXI. n

sexes engaged

Le Morne

Some of the shovels, like the specimen of which a drawing is given, measure a foot and more in length, and consequently are among the largest flint tools thus far discovered in any part of the world. Neither the rude hatchet-like and lanceolate implements found in the "drift" of France and England, associated with the osseous remains of the mammoth, the rhinoceros, and other animals of a bygone fauna, equal them in size; nor have, to my knowledge, the caves of the reindeer period in southern France and Belgium, once the resorts of savage hunting tribes, yielded any chipped flint articles of the same dimensions. Indeed, they are rivaled, as I think, only by the large flint celts of Scandinavia and northern Germany, which belong to a more advanced stage of the European stone age.

That the North American flint tools described by me were really used for digging can hardly be doubted. "If the shape of these implements," I stated in my account, "did not indicate their original use, the peculiar traces of wear which they exhibit would furnish almost conclusive evidence of the manner in which they have been employed; for that part with which the digging was done appears, notwithstanding the hardness of the material, perfectly smooth, as if glazed, and slightly striated in the direction in which the implement penetrated the ground." I further mentioned that this peculiar feature is common to all specimens of my collection as well as to the few which I have seen in the hands of others; and that they seem to be rather scarce, and merely confined to certain States bordering on the Mississippi river.

*

I was, therefore, much interested in the recent discovery of a large deposit of such implements at East St. Louis, (formerly Illinoistown,) in St. Clair county, Illinois, a place situated directly opposite the city of St. Louis, in the so-called "American Bottom," which forms a fertile plain extending for a considerable distance along the Mississippi shore in Illinois. This region, I must state, is very rich in Indian remains of various descriptions, but particularly interesting on account of numerous artificial mounds, among which the celebrated truncated pyramid called Cahokia Mound, or Monk's Mound, is by far the most conspicuous, reminding the beholder of those gigantic structures in the valley of the Nile, which the rulers of Egypt have left to posterity as tokens of their power and their pride.

The particulars of the discovery to which I alluded were communicated to me by Dr. John J. R. Patrick, of Belleville, Illinois, a gentleman to whom I am greatly "indebted for long-continued co-operation in my pursuits relative to the subject of American antiquities. As soon as Dr. Patrick heard of the discovery he hastened to East St. Louis, for the purpose of ascertaining on the spot all details concerning the occurrence of those flint tools; and in order to obtain still more minute information, he afterwards repeatedly revisited the place of discovery which is about 14 miles distant from Belleville, and can be reached after a short ride, the latter place being connected by railroad with East St. Louis. The removal of ground in extending a street disclosed the existence of the deposit, and Dr. Patrick derived all facts concerning its character from Mr. Sullivan, the contractor of the street work, who was present when the tools were exhumed, and therefore can be considered as a reliable authority. The results of my informant's inquiries, communicated in various letters addressed to me, are contained in the following

account:

In the early part of December 1868, some laborers, while engaged in grading an extension of Sixth street in East St. Louis, came upon a deposit of Indian relics, consisting of flint tools, all of the hoe and shovel type, and of small fossil marine shells, partly pierced, and in quantity about equal to the contents of a bushel. Close by were found several boulders of flint and greenstone, weighing

* Some years ago I discovered near East St. Louis the traces of an Indian pottery, described in the Smithsonian report for 1866.