32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8l 



in use by the present Eskimo of the Yukon-Kuskokwim district. 

 Two of these modern needle cases are shown for comparison on plate 

 1 8. We seem to have evidence in the St. Lawrence and Punuk speci- 

 mens of a definite association between a certain ornamental type and 

 a particular class of objects. The same simple ornamentation was 

 found on a few additional specimens, some of which are shown on 

 plate 17, but the bone tubes represent the only class of objects in 

 which every example bears this simplified modern decoration. Its 

 presence at the old sites shows that at a comparatively early period 

 the designs that we think of as characteristic of the modem Eskimo 

 were already established, although submerged or overshadowed by 

 the more elaborate designs typical of Punuk. It is merely a simpli- 

 fication of these designs, however, and not something apart, for 

 spurred lines and dots are among the constant features of the Punuk 

 style. 



On plate 9, figure 3, is shown the upper part of an old needle 

 case of different form excavated at Gambell. It is of especial inter- 

 est in connection with Boas' interesting study of needle cases ^ and 

 Mathiassen's recent references thereto." Boas concluded that the 

 flanged tubular needle case of the Norton Sound region in Alaska 

 and the winged needle case of the eastern Eskimo were derived from 

 the same origin : "It seems to me very plausible that the x^laskan 

 type and the Eastern type represent specialized developments of the 

 same older type of needlecase, and that the flanges and diminutive 

 knobs of the Alaskan specimens are homologous to the flanges and 

 large wings of the Eastern specimens." Furthermore, he showed 

 conclusively that the animal heads and human figures found on 

 some of the Alaskan specimens were secondary adaptations of the 

 original flanges and knobs : " The conclusion which I draw from a 

 comparison of the types of needlecases here represented is that the 

 flanged needlecase represents an old conventional style, which is ever 

 present in the mind of the Eskimo artist who sets about to carve a 

 needlecase. The various parts of the flanged needlecase excite the 

 imagination of the artist ; and a geometrical element here or there is 

 developed by him, in accordance with the general tendencies of 

 Eskimo art, into the representation of whole animals or of parts of 

 animals. In this manner small knobs or the flanges are developed into 

 heads or animals." Mathiassen questioned the validity of this view 



' Boas, Franz. Decorative Designs of Alaskan Needlecases : A Study in the 

 History of Conventional Designs, Based on Materials in the U. S. National 

 Museum. No. 1616, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XXXIV, pp. 321-344, 1908. 



^ Archeology of the Central Eskimo, Vol. II, pp. 92-97- 



