NO. 14 PREHISTORIC ART OF ALASKAN ESKIMO COLLINS 7 



specimen is of bone and the five pairs of circular and elliptical " eyes " 

 are not raised to the same extent as those on the smaller ivory handle 

 but the elevations can be plainly felt by running the fingers over the 

 surface. 



Plate 4, a, is an object of unknown use from the Washington State 

 Museum collection, reported to have come from Nelson Island. A 

 similar specimen, from the Diomedes, is figured by Jenness.' The 

 Washington specimen is of beautifully stained, creamy brown ivory 

 and bears a comparatively simple ornamentation of circles, dots and 

 straight lines, with a small unconnected figure made up of curved lines 

 toward the end. The centers of the circles are small cylinders of ivory 

 surrounded by rings of baleen. Two baleen discs were inserted above 

 these on the upper side of the object. The two pairs of large circles 

 and appended lines, together with the contour of the surface to which 

 they are applied, produce an eflfect strongly suggestive of seal heads. 

 There are two perforations on the lower side, and between these a 

 deep, rounded notch, indicating that the object was intended to be 

 lashed to something. The two heavy lines extending upward from the 

 basal notch are deeply cut, leaving the lower edges of the' seal heads 

 slightly overhanging. The decoration on the opposite side is identical 

 except that instead of the detached curved figure on the wing there are 

 three concentric arcs. 



Plate 4, b, is a similar, though cruder, object from St. Lawrence 

 Island. It is owned by Messrs. Albert and Wilfred Berry of Seattle. 

 It has no features suggestive of life forms like the preceding specimen, 

 but like it has a deeply cut groove beginning at the notch. A single 

 large circle near the center on each side, and a few small circles and 

 slightly curved lines are the only ornamentation. 



The specimen shown on plate 5 is the property of Rev. C. K. 

 Malmin of Ketchikan, Alaska. It was found at Imaruk Basin, east 

 of Teller, Seward Peninsula. The front end is carved to represent 

 an animal's head, the long sharp canines indicating a carnivore. The 

 ivory is mottled in rich shades of brown, cream, and gray. The 

 principal design is placed at the center between the two large holes. 

 This is divided into two parts by a deep, curving groove. The front 

 design, ranging about the forward perforation, consists of rather 

 deeply incised lines with occasional spurs and a curved petaloid figure 

 within which is a small circle from which descend two short converg- 

 ing lines. This figure resembles the flat ivory hat ornaments, some- 

 times representing gulls' heads, used to decorate the wooden hunting 



^Ann. Rep. for 1926, Nat. Mus. Canada, pi. XIII, b. 



