The perforated axes have been discovered in large numbers on the Neuchâtel sites. The great quantity of broken pieces that have been found is also remarkable; many were broken after having been finished, some during the process of boring - evidence of their having been made there. From the occurrence of numerous speci

mens in many locals evident they were
used during the late Neolithic through the
Eneolithic, and continued to be made and
used in even greater numbers during the
Bronze age.
For this reason it is difficult to
consider them as having been true axes used
for cutting. Having implements of bronze,
more easily made and certainly more service-
able, it is improbable that any people would
have continued the shaping and use of imple-
ments of stone. Nor could these implements
have withstood hard usage. They should
therefore probably be classed as battle axes,
or club heads; as such they would have been
effective weapons.

To attempt to describe the various types and forms of perforated axes from the stations on the Lake of Neuchâtel would require too much space. They range They range from the short, en handle from Thorn heavy, triangular, to the long type with flaring

FIG. 2.-Celt in wood

dale, New York.

edge and formed into a knob or head at the opposite end. They were always made of hard material, often porphyry, granite, or quartzite; but apparently never of chert. There are several specimens in the Lausanne museum still retaining a portion of the original wooden handle driven securely into the perforation. Among the numerous examples in the Neuchâtel museum, none of which however retain, the handle, is one of an unusual form that was found some years ago near Bevaix. It is of diorite, measures 180 mm. in length, is ground to a sharp edge at each end, and the four sides are flat with rounded edges. The cutting edges, if such they may be termed, are about 30 mm. wide and the ax in the center is 47 mm. in thickness. The perforation

which passes through the center is oval, and not circular as are all the others in the collection. The diameters of the opening are 15 mm. and 25 mm.; the longer follows the median line between the edges.

The interesting question, so often discussed, is, How were the perforations made? When a tubular drill was used a solid core was produced, as in the case of the modern diamond drill. Many of these cores have been found on the different sites, some of which are cylindrical, others conical. An interesting example of the latter found at Prefargier, near La Tène, on the Lake of Neuchâtel, is shown in plate I, 2. This is the entire core. The boring having been made from the opposite sides, met near the middle, though overlapping, producing a core in the form of two cones.

By experimenting I have been able to produce the same effect, although the material was much softer than that of which the axes are made. First a block of plaster of Paris, 44 mm. in thickness, and several cylindrical tubes of the same material were prepared. The latter, which served as drills, were 31 mm. in diameter; the diameter of the opening being 15 mm. made the thickness of the tube 8 mm. In drilling, dry sand was used. The boring was first made in one side to a depth of about 22 mm., then on the opposite side until the two met. During the process of boring the sand was fed to the drill from within the cylinder; this tended to wear away the core, causing it to assume the conical form. The core produced (pl. 1, 3) was of the same form and proportion as the one from Prefargier; the smaller end became just one-half the diameter of the opening in the drill. Another interesting result of this boring was the gradual wearing away of the outer surface of the drill, causing the hole to become smaller as it advanced. This may explain the occurrence of biconical perforations in many objects; whether the drill used was hollow or solid the effect would be the

same.

Assuming the above to have been one method of perforation, what were the means employed? This question has often been discussed, and many are the theories that have been advanced in answer to it. I would suggest a hollow reed, or possibly a bone, used with sand and water; possibly small pieces of quartz could

have been attached to form a cutting edge. This simple drill without doubt would have produced the desired results, and the core would have been conical. The cylindrical core may be the result of a metal drill used during the Bronze age.

During the Neolithic age man had three methods of perforating stone. The first was with the hollow drill, as already described; the second with a solid drill; the third and most primitive way was by pecking or pounding the objects, usually on the opposite sides, until the hole was produced. In plate I are shown examples of objects perforated by the three distinct methods. The perforation in the club head (1) in the upper part of the plate was undoubtedly made by means of a hollow drill. Nos. 2 and 4 are stone cores from similar implements. Below these (5) are two natural pebbles showing the effect of a solid drill. The specimen on the right is perforated, the perforation being slightly biconical, the result of boring from opposite sides; the one on the left was not completed, the drilling on each side being in depth less than onequarter the thickness of the pebble. The specimens numbered 6 are examples of the third method of perforating, namely, pecking or pounding the stone until the hole was formed. On the left is shown an unfinished piece, while that on the right is perforated. In these examples an equal amount of pecking had been done on both sides.

While the celt and the perforated ax are numerous, the grooved ax is the rarest of objects. There is one in the Neuchâtel museum, supposed to have been found on the station near Bevaix; but there appears to be some doubt about it. It is the only specimen of its kind in Neuchâtel, and there are none in the Lausanne collection; but there are three examples in the Musée de la Ville de Chambéry, Franc that were found at a station in the Lake of Bourget, near Aix-l Bains, and only a short distance south of the Lake Geneva. There seems to be no doubt as to the authenticity of these. They are of the ordinary form of grooved ax, about 150 mm. in length, and would readily pass for specimens from the Mississippi valley. The groove passes entirely round all three, and in this respect as well as in general form they also closely resemble the few specimens from southern Italy preserved in the Kircheriano Museum in Rome.