only
tool is a stone with which light, sharp blows are struck.[209] The axes
of the Swiss lake dwellings were made from bowlders of any hard stone.
By means of a saw of flint set in wood, with sand and water, a groove
was cut on one side and then on the other. With a single blow from
another stone the bowlder was made to fall in two. By means of a hard
stone the piece was rudely shaped and then finished by friction. A
modern student has made such an ax in this way in five hours. Sometimes
the stone was set in a handle of wood or horn.[210] It will be noticed
that this process was not possible until an auxiliary tool, the flint
saw, had already been made. The tools and processes were all rude and
great skill and dexterity were required in the operator. "Lafitau says
the polishing of a stone ax requires generations to complete. Mr. Joseph
D. McGuire fabricates a grooved jade ax from an entirely rough spall in
less than a hundred hours."[211]

+130. How arrowheads are made.+ As to arrowheads, "there are a dozen or
more authentic reports by eye-witnesses of the manufacture of arrowheads
in as many different ways."[212] The California Indians broke up a piece
of flint or obsidian to the proper-sized pieces. A piece was held in the
left hand, which was protected by a piece of buckskin. Pressure was put
upon the edge by a piece of a deer's antler, four to six inches long,
held in the right hand. In this way little pieces were chipped off until
the arrowhead was formed. Only the most expert do this successfully.[213]
Sometimes the stone to be operated on is heated in the fire, and slowly
cooled, which causes it to split in flakes. A flake is then shaped with
buck-horn pincers, tied together at the point with a thong.[214] In
another report it is the stone with which the operation is performed
which is said to be heated.[215] In a pit several hundred flint
implements were found stored away in regular layers with alternate
layers of sand between. Perhaps the purpose was to render them more easy
to work to the desired finish.[216] Catlin describes another process of
making arrowheads which required two workmen. One held the stone in his
left hand and placed a chisel-like instrument at the proper point. The
second man struck the blow. Both sang during the operation. The blows
were in the rhythm of the music, and a quick "rebounding" stroke was
said to be essential to good success.[217] A "lad" in Michigan made
arrowheads in imitat