336 Chr. Bendix Thostrup 



To the oldest period belong the houses: No. 4 on Sophus Müllers 

 Næs, 9 on Eskimonæsset, 66, 68 — 72 on Syttenkilometernæsset, 392, 

 393, 398-405, 408 on Snenæs and 521 on Rypefjeldet. 



To the second-last period belong: 130—135 on Renskæret, 140 

 — 144 on Maroussia, 313—315, 317—319 on the east shore of Storm- 

 bugt and 522, 527, 528 on Rypefjeldet. 



To the latest period belong; 406, 407 on Snenæs and 523, 524 

 on Rypefjeldet and probably 752 — 754, 758 on Кар David Gray. 



Some of the tent-rings had an ancient appearance, as for 

 example the tent-rings on a rocky islet in Stormbugt (367—369), 

 the tent-rings at Sælsøen (477, 478, 483—490 and 517) and the tent- 

 rings at Foraarsboplads on Rypefjeldet (599 — 634); this would seem 

 to indicate, that only the Eskimos of the oldest period have had 

 the opportunity to carry on the musk-ox hunting at Sælsøen on a 

 large scale; no recent tent-rings were found here, namely, nor any 

 other recent remains, except perhaps a single temporary meat-store 

 (473), the age of which was doubtful. The tent-rings 29, 30 on 

 Rosio and 218, 225, 247, in the neighbourhood of Danmarks Havn 

 were of the older type (367—369). 



The later tent-rings were mostly found on the coast and on the 

 shores of the fjords, which shows that the later Eskimos have been 

 closely bound to the sea as their hunting ground. A'et they have 

 also captured reindeer and a few musk-ox, as can be seen from 

 the contents of the refuse-heaps. Their weapons and apparatus 

 appear to have been made for a great part of reindeer antlers, but 

 even at the present day so many antlers of reindeer lie scattered 

 everywhere in the country round about Кар Bismarck, that there 

 is plenty of material for weapons and instruments there, and it is 

 difficult to say, therefore, whether the Eskimos have simply utilized 

 what they found lying about or the antlers of animals they them- 

 selves have killed. No reindeer are found in the district now. 



Some observations make it possible perhaps to estimate the 

 approximate period at which the Eskimos occupied the regions 

 investigated by us. 



That the Eskimos have engaged in whale-fishing can be seen 

 from the discovery of the bones and whalebone of whales, and also 

 from the apparatus made of whalebone. The bones found can 

 hardly be referred all to ^'drift-whales", but even so there is prob- 

 ably only one period in recent centuries during which whales have 

 occured at the coast so far north as the 77th degree of latitude, 

 and this period, I believe, was before or about 1700 \ when the 

 strenuous fishing caused the whales to seek in among the pack-ice 

 .1 Cf. Zorgdrac.er: pp. 12«, 290, 310, 361 and Bruun: pp. 249-51. 



