54 Alaskan Science Conference 



be alert for possible vandalism. Field personnel might be furn- 

 ished with light weight signs, to post at known sites within their 

 territories, to warn against vandalism. The public could be 

 made aware of the provisions of the Antiquities Act and its 

 importance through notices in all territorial Post Offices. 



It is the large rich sites near military establishments on the 

 one hand, and those on the Eskimo coast on the other which 

 are in the gravest danger, and many of these have already been 

 gutted or destroyed. These are sites on Kodiak, the Aleutian 

 Islands, and on the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. 

 During the war, a number of important shell heaps were wholly 

 or partially destroyed in the course of military construction, and 

 their loss we can mourn as one of the minor sacrifices demanded 

 by the war. However, further damage was and is still being 

 done by the men stationed at military bases, and by the civilian 

 employees of construction companies at these bases. These men 

 regard digging for curios as something to do in their leisure 

 time. It is not only permitted by the commanding officers, but 

 in some instances has even been encouraged as an antidote to 

 boredom and homesickness. Surely other solutions to the prob- 

 lem of morale might be found, even though commanding 

 officers might be loath to prohibit what to them may seem a 

 harmless Sunday afternoon amusement! It might, we must 

 admit, sometimes be difficult to make such a prohibition effec- 

 tive, for the demand for curios would create a lucrative black 

 market for objects dug up by the natives. 



The second serious source of damage is from the Eskimos, 

 for whom the great archaeological sites in their country are 

 literally mines of fossil ivory, and this they indiscriminately dig 

 up for its commercial value. In the past, certainly, archaeologi- 

 cal collections have even been purchased from the natives by 

 museums and this has also encouraged their activities. In some 

 villages and for some Eskimos the sale of ivory carvings repre- 

 sents the only or the major source of cash income, and the dark 

 colored fossil ivory fetches a higher price than does the white 

 ivory of newly slain walruses. Before the Russians closed the 

 borders of Siberia, East Cape was one of the main sources of 



