Page:Excavations at the Kesslerloch.djvu/54

Rh belong more to every-day life than those last mentioned. They are very simple implements, being only rounded at one end, and somewhat sharpened on both sides. Every specimen shows more or less distinctly on its edges the cats which were made when the horn was divided in pieces, and in every case the under side shows the porous part of the horn. These implements vary greatly in size; they are from 8 to 2$1⁄2$ inches long, and from nearly 4$1⁄2$ to $3⁄4$ of an inch broad. It does not appear to me that these little scrapers had been broken off at the end which is not rounded, for amongst the sixteen specimens found there are six which are all of the same length, and fit the hand of an ordinary man very well, if the thumb is placed at the thicker end (Plate VII. fig. 31). Doubtless these implements were used for skinning animals, as they were very well adapted to this purpose. Similar implements have been found in tolerable abundance in the Belgian caves. One specimen deserves especial mention on account of its ornamentation. It is well formed, and equally broad throughout its whole length, and one end is neatly rounded; the other end unfortunately is broken off. Both above and below it is so well polished as, when touched, almost to feel like glass. On the upper side, near both edges, there is a row of raised points, which when examined by a magnifying glass, have all more or less decidedly a rhombic form. Several incised lines are drawn lengthwise on the very edges. It is singular that on the under side there are some incised lines, which may possibly indicate that at an earlier period this implement may have been used for some different purpose (Plate VII. fig. 29). It is very singular that we found but one implement made from a medullary bone; it is sharpened on both the borders or edges very neatly, and towards the end it is pointed almost like a dagger. No better instrument could have been devised for skinning Three specimens of worked ribs found here were probably used for the same purpose; they are finely polished on both sides, and are rounded and sharpened like the scrapers at one end; one specimen is rounded and sharpened at both ends (Plate VI. fig. 28).

The specimens which are called awls, or boring implements, are just as simple in their construction (Plate VI. fig. 24, and Plate XIV. fig. 89). They are made of some convenient fragment of bone, neatly sharpened at one end. They evidently were used just as the awls of saddlers and shoemakers are in our