SHAPING

half an inch in thickness. The cutting
edge was sharpened, but in use it became
rounded. Some saws were double-edged.
The striation along the grooves of cut
bowlders is complementary with the gritty
particles of the saws. It has been stated
or suggested that the smooth surface to
be cut was first scratched or roughened
with a quartz crystal to give the saw a
‘hold.’ This may be questioned, for,
in an examination of several incipient
grooves, they show the width of the saw
and no fine scratches such as the point of
a crystal would make on a smooth, irregular
surface; besides, quartz crystals are not
abundant throughout this locality. Again,
it is said that equisetum was used to roughen
the surface.

Flat, thinner bowlders were cut by scoring
a deep groove in each face, and broken
apart by a sharp blow or with a wedge
driven in the groove. After separation,
sections were shaped and worked with
grindstones of sharp sandstone, and water;
these stones, so far as could be determined,
were finer in texture than the saws. ‘The

AND MONOGRAPHS