26

a

JADE

ing the broken ridge. The base is irregu-
lar in shape, and smoothed. Such long
celts never could have been hafted as adzes,
and if used for woodworking could have
been employed only as hand chisels, while
those sharpened at both ends were possibly
war implements. The best explanation
of this class of celts has been given to the
writer by Mr Teit and is added with his
permission:

There are three sizes and shapes of jade tools
you mention. The long celt [pl. vz, a] was not
hafted as a common adze, and it seems that at
least most of them were not used as tools at all.
You will notice that many of them, at least,
have no properly prepared end on which to strike,
this end being sometimes more or less convex,
sometimes irregular in outline, and generally
more or less narrow and thin; also some of
these long celts are double-bitted. All this
would seem to show these celts were not in-
tended as a rule to be used as chisels, adzes, or
wedges. According to the old Indians these
long celts were “property”, and good ones
exchanged for considerable value. Some of
them were occasionally used as chisels or
wedges, in such cases being held, it seems, in
the hand, and struck with hardwood mallets.

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The Indians aver, however, that generally
speaking they were not made for any special use
as tools. Occasionally they were also used in

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INDIAN NOTES