4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8l 



The two heads, c and e-j, are also from northern Alaska, the exact 

 locality unknown. They are in the Washington State Museum and 

 I am indebted to Mr. F. S. Hall, Director of the Museum, and to the 

 Messrs. Berry for the kind permission to figure their specimens. The 

 heads are all of the closed socket type, with the line hole at right angles 

 to the blade slit. The basis of the design consists of pairs of circles, at 

 times somewhat elliptical, drawn free hand and surmounting low 

 rounded elevations in such a manner as to suggest eyes on the head of 

 a bird or mammal. There are two of these " heads," one at the terminal 

 barb and another just above and in part overlapping it. In c there is 

 a suggestion of a third " head " above the line hole. Plate i, e-j, differs 

 from the others in having a groove for a lateral blade on each side 

 above the line hole. These harpoon heads are of the same form and 

 style of ornamentation as one described by Mathiassen.^ Besides the 

 circles, which form the central motive, there is a graceful arrangement 

 of lines, some deeply and some lightly incised, straight and curved, 

 solid and broken or dotted. Small spurs are also attached to some of 

 the lines and circles. 



In plate i, d, is shown an unusual harpoon head which I bought 

 from an Eskimo on St. Lawrence Island. It was excavated from the 

 old village at Sevuokok (Gambell) on the northwestern end of the 

 island. Its ornamentation is of the same nature as the other three, 

 although the careless scratching and unfinished appearance of the 

 upper end distinguish it from most of the objects similarly decorated. 

 There are also deep dots at the centers of the circles. In form, how- 

 ever, this harpoon head presents a number of anomalous features. 

 The line hole, instead of being at the center, is placed at one side. 

 The open socket is rounded instead of rectangular, and in position is 

 more like what would be expected in a closed-socket type. Finally, the 

 grooved band opposite the socket was cut after the decoration had 

 been applied. These facts make it appear that the harpoon head was 

 intended to have, and may originally have had, a closed socket, but that 

 either in the drilling or subsequently while in use, a part broke away, 

 leaving the socket exposed. In order that it might still be utilized the 

 groove was then cut around the side and the foreshaf t lashed on. 



Figure i is a very interesting closed socket harpoon head from 

 Plover Bay, Northeastern Siberia. It is of fossil mammoth ivory 

 and is creamy gray in color in contrast to the usual brown of the old 

 walrus ivory ; it is badly pitted on the opposite side but enough of the 

 ornamentation remains to show that the design was identical on both 



' Indian Notes, Vol. 6, No. i, fig. 13, a. 



