PRIMITIVE AMERICAN ARMOR. 633 



This type of armor consists of small, flat, oblong plates of ivory or 

 bone pierced near the edges with from 4 to or more boles. They are 

 laslied in series with rawhide thongs passing through the holes, form- 

 ing what is known as the " clove hitch." The longer edges of the 

 plates are chamfered to admit of overlapping and curving the armor 

 around the body; it could thus be rolled up in small compass when not 

 in use. 



The coat would be formed of from 3 to 5 imbricating rows of plates 

 so constructed, having offsets under the armpits and straps for the 

 shoulders. Sometimes a yoke of skin fitting the neck and shoulders 

 formed a support for the rows of plates, as in specimens from St. Law- 

 rence Island. The coat is fastened at the back, being tied with thongs 

 or having a toggle and loop. 



Iron armor plates were dug up in a marsh at Cape Prince of Wales 

 (see pi. 3), and plates of iron and copper were found on St. Lawrence 

 Island. 



There is an interesting statement from Lisiansky, who wrote his voy- 

 ages in 1805, that the Tlingits,on the introduction of iron and firearms, 

 adopted a new form of protection, consisting of a buckskin strip around 

 the neck with iron plates attached pendant down the breast. 



Nordenskkjold figures a suit of armor like that of the Eskimo from 

 the Chukchis.* In the Museum there are 4 plates of fossil ivory from 

 the Chukchis of Cape Wankarem. 



The hoop or band armor mentioned as type 4 (pi. 4, fig. 2) is found 

 only on the Siberian side of this area and, as well as the plate armor, 

 recalls well-known forms in Japan. This hoop armor is interesting as 

 showing the reproduction of plate armor types in skin, being made of 

 horizontal bands of sealskin instead of rows of ivory i)lates, the rings 

 telescoping together when the armor is not in use. This type may be 

 compared with the banded mail of the Middle Ages, about which there 



dug up in a bog near where the ivory armor on this plate was found. Length of 

 each plate, 41 inches; width, 1^ inches. (Cat. No. 1.53492, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Cape 

 Prince of Wales, Alaska. Collected by H. R. Thornton). 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 3. 



Plate armor. — Made of five imbricating rows of plates of walrus ivory of unequal 

 size in the different rows, pierced with from 6 to 13 holes, lashed with sealskin thongs. 

 The vertical edges of the plates are chamfered. The upper row has 40, 3 by 1|- 

 inches; second row, 49 plates, 5 by 1 inch; third row, 28 plates, 3^ by If inches; 

 fourth row, 31 plates, by 1^ inches; fifth row, 16 plates, 6 by 1^ inches. Two 

 pointed plates cut from a tusk aie laslied to one side, forming a clasp. This armor 

 was wrapped around the body after the manner of a cuirass and is said to have been 

 an efficacious protection against arrows. In the form, lashing, and adjustment of 

 the plates it is identical with certain types of Japanese armor. Width extended, 49 

 inches; height, 24 inches. (Cat. No. 64290, U.S.N.M. Eskimo of Diomede Island, 

 Alaska. Collected by E. W. Nelson). 



* Nordenskjold, A. E., Voyage of the Vega, ii, p. 478. 



