NO. 14 PREHISTORIC ART OF ALASKAN ESKIMO — COLLINS 29 



iron received may have been such prized possessions that they 

 were used only for fine cutting and for decorating implements and 

 ornaments. 



It is somewhat difficult to reconcile the many outward evidences of 

 antiquity at the old Punuk site with an age of only three hundred 

 years. Even the houses on the top of the midden are now represented 

 by nothing more than shallow levelled pits and fallen whale bones. 

 Wood is absent to a conspicuous degree. The tremendous pile of 

 refuse, reaching a total height of sixteen feet, and most significant of 

 all, old houses at the very bottom of the midden and six feet below 

 the reach of storm tides, would appear without doubt to be prima 

 facie evidence of a considerable antiquity. If the metal could have 

 reached Punuk Island from some Oriental source before the arrival 

 of Europeans in eastern Siberia or in the North Pacific, it would be 

 possible to allow an antiquity to the site more in keeping with its 

 appearance. At present, however, this can be mentioned only as a pos- 

 sibility ; it seems safer to consider the age of the Punuk site, at least 

 provisionally, as not greater than three hundred years. 



Whatever the age in years of the Punuk site it is without doubt 

 later than the sites from which come the curvilinear art of the old 

 Bering Sea culture. This is indicated by the difiference in technique re- 

 ferred to and the fact that the Punuk ornamentation at times ap- 

 proaches very closely that of the modern Alaskan Eskimo. 



Distribution affords further evidence. The old curvilinear art has 

 been found at Point Barrow, Point Hope, Cape Prince of Wales, 

 Northeast Siberia, the Diomede Islands, Imaruk Basin, St Lawrence 

 Island, and one specimen is reported from Nelson Island. The Punuk 

 type occurs on St. Lawrence and Punuk Islands and one example 

 comes from Point Hope. While the few decorated specimens from 

 mainland sites that have found their way into collections are of the old 

 Bering Sea style, this need not mean that it is the only type present, 

 for with the exception of Wales and the Diomedes we have no de- 

 tailed first hand knowledge of any northern Alaskan sites. For the 

 present, therefore, we must turn to St. Lawrence Island for anything 

 like a comprehensive or comparative view. 



The old curvilinear art has been found at Gambell on the northwest- 

 ern end of the Island and at Kukuliak on the north side, with traces 

 of it — four out of 141 decorated specimens^ — on Punuk Island and 

 Cape Kialegak. The Punuk type prevails at Punuk Island and Cape 

 Kialegak and appears to be much more common than the curvilinear 

 at Gambell and Kukuliak. The explanation that appears to best fit 

 these facts is that the northern and western St. Lawrence sites, such 



