Ethnographic Description of the Eskimo Settlements 303 



shore in the south, ca. 8 meters above the sea. They seemed very 

 old and were now so much sunken that only a faint ground-plan 

 could be seen. Small streams of water now run through them also 

 and have led to an extensive growth of willow^ etc. These winter- 

 houses were not investigated or measured, as it appeared that this 

 would only have been possible after draining off the water by means 

 of canals. 



The other 3 winter-houses in this group (522 — 524) were found 

 ca. 20 meters from the shore and ca. 3 meters above the sea. The 

 sketch (fig. 42) shows the relative situations of the different stone 

 remains. For the form and size of the winter-houses, see PI. II. 



In winter-house 522 a great deal of water collected as excava- 

 tion proceded, so that we \\eve at last obliged to lead it out by a 

 channel. Here as everywhere, the most practical method was to un- 

 cover a little each night and allow the sun in the daytime to thaw 

 as much as possible. Both the floorplace and the platform in this 

 winter-house consisted of earth and were covered with flat stones. 

 The platform edge was vertical and formed of stones placed on end. 

 The floorplace sloped evenly downwards from the lower edge of the 

 platform to the floor of the passage. On the front edge of the plat- 

 form, to the right of the doorway, were 2 small, carved figures in a 

 small marked-off space, which had probably served as lamp-stand. 

 (Walrus, bearded seal, fjord seal, reindeer, musk-ox and a piece of 

 whalebone). 



The next two, very recent, winter-houses (523 and 524) were first 

 investigated by Mylius-Erichsen, wdio procured from them, in addi- 

 tion to made articles, a large quantity of bones. (Hare, dog (includ- 

 ing л'^егу old dog and young puppy), polar bear, walrus, bearded 

 seal, fjord seal, reindeer (including many antlers, some of which 

 had been cast naturalh) and musk-ox (including a skull with 

 horns)). 



In the winter-house 523 the floor rose gradually from the pas- 

 sage, over the space in front to the platform (main platform and 

 side platform), and was paved everywhere with flat stones. The 

 platforms had an underlayer of gravel, the floor, of earth. xMong 

 the east side wall, almost in the middle of the platform, was 

 a small lamp-place, 040 M. long, 0*20 M. broad and 010 M. deep, 

 and in front of this was a small space, perhaps for blubber and 

 moss, 0-20 M. long, 020 M. broad and 010 M. high (fig. 43). The 

 bottom of the small annex to the left of the doorway lay on a level 

 with the floor of the house, thus lower than the side platform. The 

 side w^alls have been so high, that the roof has been 070 M. 

 higher than the level of the platform. The roof stones лvere large. 



