BERING SEA AECHEOLOGY — COLLINS 461 



SomeAvhat later the simplification of the harpoon head reached its 

 limit, when the thin type with the barely open, wedge-shaped socket 

 became thicker and evolved into the modern St. Lawrence form with 

 closed socket (pi. 6, fig. 41). 



STONE AND OTHER IMPLEMENTS 



Some of the Old Bering Sea implement types are shown on 

 plate 7, and Punuk types on plate 8. One of the striking differences 

 between the Old Bering Sea and Punuk cultures was in stone tech- 

 nique. The older culture abounded in chipped-stone immplements, 

 many of them being merely flakes with finely chipped edges ; ground 

 slate blades were also common, and 2- to 5-sided rubbing stones 

 were characteristic. The Punuk sites, on the other hand, yielded 

 very few chipped-stone implements, the great majority having been 

 produced by rubbing. 



Changes were found to have occured in other implement types, 

 such as adz sockets, pottery lamps and vessels, ice creepers, fish-line 

 sinkers, heavy ivory sled runners, bone and ivory arrowpoints. On 

 the other liand, there were types such as ivory picks, wedges, walrus- 

 scapula shovels, knife handles, baleen pails, drill rests, and bone 

 drills, which remained unchanged from the Old Bering Sea period 

 down to historic times. 



Slat armor, wrist guards, and bird bolas did not come into use 

 until the Punuk period; and the flat, narrow sled runners of bone 

 and other evidences of dog traction were not found at any of the 

 prehistoric sites. 



HOUSES 



From two ruins excavated, the Old Bering Sea type of house was 

 found to have been a small, semisubterranean, rectangular structure, 

 with stone floor and a long narrow entrance passage (pi. 9, fig. 1, in 

 background) ; the walls were made of small driftwood timbers laid 

 horizontally and held in place with bone and wooden stakes; the 

 roof may also have been of wood. 



Early Punuk houses were identical in structure to those of the 

 Old Bering Sea period, but larger, with dimensions around 19 by 21 

 feet (pi. 9, fig. 1, in foreground, and fig. 2). Later in the Punuk 

 stage there came into use another type of house, likewise square to 

 rectangular, semisubterranean and with stone floor, but with walls 

 made of stones, whalebones, and walrus skulls instead of timbers; 

 the narrow entrance passage was roofed with whale ribs or stones. 

 Another and quite different type of Punuk house continued in use 

 up to about 40 years ago (pi. 10, figs. 1 and 2). It was semisub- 

 terranean, square to rectangular, with floor of heavy planks and 

 walls of small timbers and whale jaws set on end and leaning 



