Page:Excavations at the Kesslerloch.djvu/46

Rh them off. A large number of specimens of this kind were found. The cuts are often so well defined and sharp, that one is almost tempted to think that they had been made with a sharp metal tool. But having tried to cut off in the same manner a main 'tyne' just as strong with a flint implement chosen for the purpose, I feel convinced that it is not so, for these cuts were just as defined as those above mentioned. After the main and secondary 'tynes' had been taken away, then the main branch or 'beam' was cut off (Plate III. fig. 11), immediately above the first main offshoot. This was the last of the preparatory labours; the raw material was brought into a state to be used for whatever was intended. The first thing to be done was to make several incisions with a flint knife lengthwise in the 'beam,' down to the porous part, with the intention of dividing it into several parts (Plate IV. fig. 12), and then but little had to be taken away before these pieces became the required implements; this was perhaps the most difficult part of the work. Every attempt I made to imitate the different parts of the work succeeded better than this. Immense patience was required to make a similar incision lengthwise. Several 'beams' were found with furrows of this kind. One of them (Plate IV. fig. 12) is about 1$1⁄2$ inch thick, and 16$1⁄2$ inches long, and it has a furrow 9$1⁄4$ inches long and about one-sixth of an inch deep. If this 'beam' be turned about 60 degrees, a second furrow is seen more than 4 inches long and hardly more than one-twentieth of an inch deep. Probably the piece of horn chosen did not please the workman, but was thrown aside as useless. A second 'beam,' about 15 inches long and 1$1⁄2$ inch wide, has only a single incision, nearly 12 inches long and one-third of an inch deep. These longitudinal incisions were made by a sharp-pointed flint, brought down at right angles on the antler, and then worked till a furrow was formed. When the flint was so thick as to prevent the further progress of the work, the furrow was widened into a wedge-shaped form. All the furrows in the specimens of this kind now lying before us are consequently broader above (viz. from ⋅41 to ⋅47 decimals of an inch), while at the bottom they are much narrower (⋅35 of an inch). This was the manner in which the horns were in general cut in pieces lengthwise. No inconsiderable number of specimens show quite clearly the traces of this mode of proceeding, for they have on both sides very evidently cut surfaces which in fact were the sides of one of the furrows. The pieces thus obtained were then scraped with flint-flakes till they became of the form required. If the