From Stones to Metal

• Native Americans made tools to engrave stone rocks from other stones, metals and animal origins. Most tribes or cultures primarily worked on stones for hunting and food storage purposes, though ceremonial objects and jewelry were not uncommon artifacts (see References below). Tool technology advanced as European settlement and expansion permeated into Native American lands. Simple tools such as the spearhead became obsolete when white pioneers introduced metallurgy and firearms to native people.
  
  

Carving Rocks

• Tools made for cutting or scraping.
  
  Native Americans formed stones such as flint and chert, consisting of crystalline sedimentary rock, and obsidian, a volcanic glass cooled into igneous rock, into points through a process called knapping. Stone tools chip the rock, removing lithic flakes and creating sharp edges. Further pressure flaking may take place using finer, precision-based scrapings and cuts such as with quartz or basalt to further emboss the edges (see References below).
  
  Steatite, also called soapstone, is a talc rock the NativeTech website describes as softer and, thus, easier to engrave. Catlinite, also called pipestone, is another soft stone with clay deposits. Indigenous peoples in areas of the southeast and western United States used both rocks to shape food containers and ceremonial items.
  
  

Carving Metal

• According to Carl Waldman's atlas on the North American Indian, European settlers introduced metal goods to indigenous societies through trade. Brass kettles were one metallic object reworked by American Indians into simple cutting and drilling tools. Cultures from the Copper River in Alaska and around the northwest coast traded with Europeans for metals. Using the process called annealing, the Indians applied heat while hammering metals such as copper and brass (see References below).
  
  

Animal Bones

• Awls made from gazelle foot bones.
  
  Native Americans obtained animal bones through hunting and used these non-edible remains for carving and chiseling tools. Antlers, horns and tusks all made useful instruments for finer, precision engravings on stone rocks (see References below).
  
  Seashells and freshwater shells became a means of scraping out vessels and etching jewelry according to Russell Freedman's book "Who Was First? Discovering the Americas." Early American Indians living along coastlines, major rivers or in the Great Lakes region had access to shells either from their own environment or through trade with other communities.
  
  

Engravings

• Ceremonial pipes crafted from pipestone were commonly used in the Hopewell tradition of the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Archaeologists found these pipes at the Tremper Mound and Earthworks in Ohio as described by the Ohio History Central website. Shamans shaped and smoked these pipes into animal effigies for rituals.
  
  Indians of the Hopewell tradition also crafted thin sheets of mica, or isenglass, into human forms. The shiny property of mica may have been utilized for mirrors, while a finely cut piece could act as a window (see References below).