The Adze and the Ungrooved Axe of the New England Indians

Abstract

Under the unsatisfactory term celt are included two distinct classes of stone implements adze blades and ungrooved axe or hatchet blades. In the former class the cutting edge was at right angles to the haft, while in the latter class the edge was parallel to the haft. The ungrooved axe, as a rule, is readily distinguished from the adze by its symmetrical form (compare pl. xi and xii). Ungrooved axes are distributed throughout a large portion of America, and are found also in many other sections of the world. So far as known the methods of hafting were similar in the various regions. In central Europe the smaller stone blades were usually inserted into a fore-haft of antler which was fitted to a hole or perforation in the wooden haft. Antler fore-hafts were sometimes used