462 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1950 



Seward Peninsula cave of lamellar flakes associated with slender ar- 

 rowheads of antler with two long, deep grooves for side blades, a type 

 which is essentially Ipiutak, but undecorated. This cave, discovered 

 in 1948 by David Hopkins, appears to be intermediate in age between 

 Ipiutak and Cape Denbigh. 



On the basis of the present evidence it appears that despite the 

 definite Paleolithic-Mesolithic affinities of the Denbigh Flint Com- 

 plex, a cultural relationship of some kind existed between the early 

 Cape Denbigh people and the Eskimos who later occupied the same 

 region. A similar relationship also existed between the Denbigh 

 Complex and Folsom and Yuma. If our interpretation is correct 

 this means that the hitherto distinct problems of Eskimo origins and 

 of Early Man in America must now be considered in a single frame 

 of reference, one that extends the range and scope of both problems 

 and adds new facets and perplexities to each. 



Thus Folsom and Yuma are brought into relationship with an 

 Arctic culture of unknown age, which in turn is related to Mesolithic 

 cultures of Eurasia. As for the other side of the problem, the 

 Denbigh finds attest the antiquity of a number of Eskimo culture 

 traits and strengthen the view that Eskimo culture is basically of 

 Mesolithic origin. At present we can only guess at the extent of the 

 time gap between the Denbigh Flint Complex and the oldest known 

 Eskimo cultures, but it is probably a difference to be measured in 

 millenniums rather than centuries. Until that point is determined 

 and until more information is available for Siberia, the role of the 

 Denbigh Complex in the formation of Eskimo and Siberian culture 

 will remain obscure. We can only say that it is much older than, and 

 yet in some way related to, Eskimo, just as it also clearly antedates 

 and in all probability represents a stage of culture ancestral to the 

 early Neolithic cultures around Lake Baikal and the Ural Mountains 

 which show such close resemblances to early Eskimo. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

 Arnold, J. R., and Libbt, W. F. 



1951. Radiocarbon dates. Science, vol. 113, No. 2927, pp. 111-120. 

 Birket-Smith, Kaj. 



1929. Ttie Caribou Esliimos. Rep. 5th Thule Exped., 1921-1924, vol. 5. 



Copenhagen. 



1930. The question of the origin of Esliimo culture: a rejoinder. Amer. 



Anthrop., n. s., vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 608-624. 

 1936. The Eskimos. London. 

 1940. Anthropological observations on the Central Eskimos. Rep. 5th Thule 



Exped., 1921-1924, vol. 3, No. 2. Copenhagen. 

 Boas, Fkanz. 



1888. The Eskimo. Proc. and Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada 1887, vol. 5, sect. 2, 



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