to-day, to-morrow would reveal no trace of it. It is believed that
the Igorot is to-day as much in the "stone age" as he ever has been
in his present land. He had little use for stone weapons, implements,
or utensils before he manufactured in iron.

Before he had iron he was essentially a user and maker of weapons,
implements, utensils, and tools of wood. There are many vestiges of
the wood age to-day; several show the use of wood for purposes usually
thought of as solely within the sphere of stone and metal. Among
these vestiges may be noted the bamboo knife used in circumcision;
the sharp stick employed in the ceremonial killing of domestic hogs
in Benguet; the bamboo instrument of ten or a dozen cutting blades
used to shape and dress the hard, wooden spear shafts and battle-ax
handles; the use of bamboo spearheads attached to hard-wood shafts;
and the bamboo spikes stuck in trails to impale the enemy.

In addition to the above uses of wood for cutting flesh and working
wood there follow, in this and subsequent chapters, enough data
regarding the uses of wood to demonstrate that the wood age plays a
large part in the life of a primitive people prior to the common use
of metals. Without metals there was practically no occasion for the
development of stone weapons and tools in a country with such woods
as the bamboo; so in the Philippines we find an order of development
different from that widespread in the temperate zones -- the "stone
age" appears to be omitted.

Wooden implements and utensils

The kay-kay (Pl. LXI) is one of the most indispensable wooden tools
in Igorot land. It is a hard-wood implement from 5 to 7 feet long,
sharpened to a dull, flat edge at one end; this end is fire tempered
to harden and bind the fibers, thus preventing splitting and excessive
wear. The kay-kay is obtained in the mountains in the vicinity of most
pueblos, so it is seldom bought or sold. It is the soil-turning stick,
used by both men and women in turning the earth in all irrigated
sementeras for rice and camotes. It is also employed in digging
around and prying out rocks to be removed from sementeras or needed
for walls. It is spade, plow, pickax, and crowbar. A small per cent of
the kay-kay is shod with an iron point, rendering them more efficient,
especially in breaking up new or sod ground.

The su-wan', the woman's camote stick, is about 2 feet long and an
inch in diameter (Pl. LXXV). It is a heavy, compact wood, and i