(e) Double-grooved. (Figs. 282; one in 286, one in 257.) The polished stone hatchet or celt is an implement much in use entirely throughout the world, and we may doubt whether primitive man could have existed without it. Celts served a multitude of purposes; the ruder ones may be considered as general utility tools in use about the wigwams and cabins. The more skillful worker in stone made very artistic as well as serviceable celts and hatchets, usually paying particular attention to the edge, which was often keen and sharp. Sufficient time and labor were put on certain of the specimens to bring them to a high state of perfection; to work out fancy or specialized forms. [Illustration: FIG. 218. (S. 1–3.) W. J. Martin collection, Leon, Kansas (p. 260). ] Most archæologists suppose that primitive man made his first celts by selecting water-worn pebbles of near the desired shape and grinding them until sharp edges were obtained. Within the gravelly bed of any stream were multitudinous stones, and as primitive man traveled about, his attention was attracted to these, and it was but a natural conclusion that he should make edged tools or weapons of them. [Illustration: FIG. 219. (S. about 1–6.) This represents six celts of hard, reddish slate partly chipped, partly ground, from A. E. Kilbourne’s cabinet, Connecticut. It may be said to mark the beginning of the ground objects, for these celts might be placed under the classification of chipped objects, although I have included them with the ground stone. ] The illustrations of the more simple forms of celts presented in this chapter are of types from several portions of the country. The oval celt was the most common of all, and occurred pretty much everywhere in the United States except on the Pacific Coast and on the Great Plains. It is not frequent in that part of New England lying east of Lake Champlain, yet specimens are not wanting. But it is absent in the Ozark Mountains, and quite rare in Texas. In the Mississippi Valley and the area drained by Southern rivers, in the central East and valleys of the Hudson, the Susquehanna, and Delaware, it occurs in great numbers. As one approaches the East, celts diminish in the Connecticut Valley, and are less frequent in the Merrimac, in the Penobscot, and the Kennebec regions. [Illustration: FIG. 220. (S. 1–3.) A group of celts from the Tidewater region, Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland. Reproduced from the 15th _Annual Report_ of the Bureau of Ethnology. Most of these, especially the three at the lower right-hand corner, are oval forms of polished stone hatchets. Such are the most common, and with these my classification begins. All are typical specimens from the Smithsonian collection. The edges are broad; the upper portions of several show the work of hand-hammers. ] [Illustration: