THE ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE ESKIMO — COLLINS 429 



distinct stage of culture. Excavations at Birnirk and other nearby 

 sites by Van Valin in 1918 and Ford in 1932, interpreted in the light 

 of later information, have revealed the Birnirk as a key stage or link 

 between the prehistoric cultures of Alaska and Hudson Bay (Mason, 

 1930;Collins, 1934, 1940). 



The fact that the Birnirk resembled both the Canadian Tlmle culture 

 and the Old Bering Sea, which was known to be older than Thule, 

 suggested that it was the Alaskan stage ancestral to the latter. The 

 indirect indications of this relationship were confirmed by excavations 

 at Kurigitavik, a Thule-Punuk site at Cape Prince of Wales, Bering 

 Strait, where a Birnirk to Thule sequence in harpoon heads was found 

 (Collins, 1940). 



Old Bering Sea and P«7mA;.— Evidence from St. Lawrence Island 

 and Bering Strait indicates that the Birnirk in turn was somewhat 

 later than Old Bering Sea. The Old Bering Sea Eskimos, like the 

 Birnirk and Thule, were a maritime people who lived in permanent 

 villages on the seacoasts and who depended for their livelihood on 

 seals, walrus, fish, and birds. Wlialing was practiced but only to a 

 limited extent. Like the Dorset people, the Old Bering Sea Eskimos 

 did not use the dog sled, though they had small hand sleds for hauling 

 skin boats and loads of meat over the sea ice. 



Living in a region abounding in game, and thus having an assured 

 food supply, the Old Bering Sea Eskimos developed a rich and com- 

 plex culture (Collins, 1937). One of its most striking characteristics 

 was an elaborate and sophisticated art style. Ivory harpoon heads, 

 knife handles, needle cases, and many other objects were not only skill- 

 fully carved but decorated with pleasing designs formed of graceful 

 flowing lines, circles, and ellipses. On St. Lawrence Island strati- 

 graphic excavations revealed three successive stages of Old Bering 

 Sea art— style 1 (Okvik) (pi. 1, j-o), style 2 (pi. 2), and style 3 (pi. 

 3 ) . Following these, there appeared a simpler style, the Punuk, which 

 foreshadowed modern Eskimo art (fig. 1, lower half). 



The Punuk culture as a whole was partly an outgrowth of the Old 

 Bering Sea and partly the result of new influences from Siberia. 

 Developmental changes in harpoon heads and other implements which 

 began in the Old Bering Sea period continued throughout the Punuk. 

 A number of completely new types also made their appearance in the 

 foreshadowed modern Eskimo art (fig. 1, lower half). 



Though the Punuk was in all essential respects a stone-age culture, 

 its art was the product of metal tools. This is evident from 

 the appearance of the deeply and evenly incised lines and compass- 

 made circles, and from the presence of small, slender engraving tools, 

 several of which had bits of the iron points remaining in place. 

 Stratigraphic and other evidence shows clearly that this metal long 

 antedated the Russian period. Its source was probably eastern Asia 



