440 Thomas Thomsen 



a matter of doubt whether it was intended for use with a shaft or 

 not; in the case of the next, however, PI. XIV, 20, (L. 3989), we have 

 evidently to deal with a hand tool, both ends being here pointed, 

 though differing in thickness. The middle portion, or grip, which is 

 9 mm. broad, is rather rhomboid in section; the length of the whole 

 piece is 4*5 cm. This double-ended tool is, like the first mentioned, 

 finely shaped; it is made of green slate, and was found in one of the 

 houses 522 — 24 at the winter settlement at Rypefjeldet. 



The drill, which had also to perform the functions of a saw, is 

 one of the most important implements which the Eskimos possess, 

 and pieces of bone which have been cut through transversely or 

 longitudinally by this means are extremely numerous among the 

 finds made. PI. XX, 3—6^ shows some characteristic instances of 

 this : a hollow bone, laid open to the marrow by a series of drilled 

 holes (3). a reindeer antler, from one end of which a strip has been 

 removed by splitting and then boring transversely through (4); an- 

 other reindeer antler split lengthwise (5), and one cut off" by trans- 

 verse boring (6). 



From several of the finished tools likewise we can learn the 

 manner of working with the drill in bone, ivory, slate and wood. In 

 the case of slate or ivory, the drilling must be done from both 

 sides, owing to the danger of splitting. In addition to single holes, 

 it may also be used for cutting the slit for the insertion of the blade 

 in harpoon heads, and for the line grooves of the same (Fig. 4) or 

 of buckles for harness (PI. XIII, 12). In the spliced parts of compound 

 wooden bows, a hole is bored where the point of the splice is to 

 reach, in order to prevent the knife from splitting the wood too far 

 down (PI. XVIII, 5). ' 



Women's Knives. 



The slate blade of the well-known curved-edged woman's knife, 

 or "Ulo" is, as already pointed out by Solberg^', a highly variable 

 item, both as regards shape and size. The present collection includes 

 specimens ranging in size from 3*4 to 155 cm., and from a thickness 

 of only 2 mm. to that of the heavy blades measuring 16 cm. across 

 the back. 



In the thinner, more carefully fashioned knives, there is on the 

 upper edge, or back, of the blade a sharply defined portion, generally 

 rectangular in shape, designed to serve as a tang for the handle 

 (PI. XXIII, 6). In two cases (PI. VII, 11 and XII, 16) it is rounded, 

 and would then presumably have served as a handle in itself^ Con- 



1 Mus. Nos. L. 3680, 3967, 3997 and 3601 respectively. = Solberg p. 54—55. 

 ' Cf. one of the knives from the Nathorst Expedition (Solberg p. 55, Fig. 47). 



