Abstract
IN glancing over a considerable series of American stone implements, we quite naturally expect to find that ever-present feature of the modern Indian's outfit, the scalping-knife. In every collection we recognise the stone axe that preceded the iron tomahawk; the jasper arrow and spear heads, now replaced by metallic ones; while neatly edged flints of various shapes give us cutting implements adapted to all ordinary uses; but not so with the scalping-knife. However large the series, we cannot, at a glance, point out a form of knife peculiarly well adapted for such a purpose, from the several shapes before us. While all are possible scalping-knives, none probably are so. This, at least, has been my experience until very lately, although I have constantly sought out “probable scalping-knives” from thousands of implements gathered and being gathered in this neighbourhood. Among the hundreds of specimens of flint knives there occurred none that resembled the modern knife, and I supposed that the stone scalpers were similar—the later being modelled from earlier form.
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ABBOTT, C. On the Occurrence in New Jersey of Supposed Flint Scalping-Knives . Nature 12, 368–369 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012368a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012368a0