The Material Culture of the Eskimo in West Greenland. 



223 



used in the winter for hauling pieces of meat, out of the meat-pits. 

 This made it possible to have only a very small opening at the top, 

 through which no dog could enter, and which might be easily closed 

 with a single stone. The handle is of wood ; it has formerly been 

 somewhat longer ; along the one edge some notches have been cut 

 to afford a better grip. The hook itself is of antler, carefully shaped 

 into a point and sharpened along both edges. In order to strengthen 

 it, a lashing of sinew thread has been passed through a hole in the 

 handle and above the outer edge of the hook where there are a few 

 notches. Fragments of the thread still adhere to the handle. More- 

 over, the hook is fitted into a slot and held in place with a bone nail. 



Sarpaq. From an old meat-pit. 



Similar implements are often called "blubber-hooks" by authors. 



Fig. 55, В is a hook made from an antler. The stumps of a 

 couple of divergent branches, and some notches along the edges, serve 

 to give a grip to the hand. I have not been able to gain any in- 

 formation concerning the use of this implement. There is a hole at 

 each of the two bends in the branch, and the holes are placed at the 

 outer edge, so as not to weaken the strength of the bone, and there 

 is also a hole midway in the handle. I think the hook may have 

 been used for hauling large pieces of whale-blubber from the coast 

 by several persons together. One would plant the hook in the blubber 

 and pull at the ^ 



handle, while the 

 others would pull the 

 lines or straps which 

 would be passed 

 through the three 

 holes. When the 

 strain came thus to 

 act in the longitudi- 

 nal direction of the 

 hook, none of the 

 holes in the imple- 

 ment would detract from its strength. It could not have been used 

 as a meat hook like the preceding; it is too clumsy for that and the 

 hook itself is too broad. 



Hunde Eiland. On the old site of a house. 



Fig. 55, С is a nigsiniut (from nigsipâ, 247). No doubt it is 

 either a less commonly used or else an improvised implement for 

 hauling up sunken seals and White Whales from the bottom of 

 the sea. It consists of a piece of whale's bone into which some 

 large spikes have been driven, but the majority of these have been 

 eaten away by rust. At the top there was a line-hole which has 

 been broken by the strain. Kronprins Eiland. 



LI. 17 



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(î>-j 



Fig. 56. Three marrow extractors. 



