Tikchik village: a nineteenth century riverine community in ... - Cluster

VANSTONE: TIKCHIK VILLAGE 267type in excess of 17 cm. in length and 8.5 cm. in width were discardedin the field, while a number in the collection are more than 13 cm.long. The smallest fragments are 2 to 4 cm. in length. All of thetype 1 specimens have at least two flat surfaces showing varying degreesof use. In many cases the unbroken edges of the whetstoneshave been roughly worked, and ten can be said to be well shaped(PI. 1,11-13). The illustrated specimens indicate the better madeexamples.Whetstones of type 2 number 16, half of them being complete ornearly so. They have been shaped from a relatively hard material,in most cases a very fine-grained schist. They tend to be somewhatsmaller than the whetstones of type 1, the largest, a complete implement,being 16 cm. in length. All the specimens show wear on atleast two surfaces and the best examples, like those of type 1, areworked to a rectangular form and show wear on four surfaces (PI. 1,14-15).Five of the type 1 whetstones have deep, narrow striations ontheir worn surfaces which would appear to be the result of their useas sharpeners for steel needles (PI. 1,12). On all of these implementsthe striations are as much as 2 mm. in width, which would seem tosuggest a heavy sail-makers' needle. This type of secondary usageis of particular significance because there are no needles in the collection.Strictly speaking, of course, it is difficult to be sure whethersuch a use for a whetstone was a secondary one. All the striations,however, occur on worn surfaces of specimens and in all cases arerelatively sharp and clear. It is also noteworthy that only whetstonesof the softer material were used for this purpose.There are eight hammerstones in the Tikchik collection, seven ofwhich are pebbles of coarse to fine-grained sandstone blunted at oneor both ends by use. The largest of these is approximately 16 cm.long and 10 cm. wide, while the smallest is 8.5 by 4 cm. (PL 2,i).The ninth implement is similar to the others except that it is brokenat one end and this flat surface has also been used for hammering(PI. 2,2).Eight slate end blades and 16 fragments all exhibit finely-groundsurfaces and bilateral cutting edges. Three of the complete specimensare characterized by a hollow-ground groove running parallelto the entire length of the blade (PI. 2,4), while the others are flaton both surfaces and have beveled edges (PI. 2,5,6). Seven areflat across the proximal end (PL 2,4-6), while one has a pronouncedconcave base (PL 2,3). Of the fragments, six are blade tips and