276 



object". The large block of iron was cleared of snow and the 

 Eskimo told Peary, "that the Innuits call the meteorite a woman 

 in a sitting position , and he says it used to be much larger 

 and higher than it is now, but that his people have gradually 

 worn it down, and that years ago natives from Pelerahwik (on 

 the coast north of Inglefield Gulf) broke off the head and 

 carried it away. He also voluntarily told how the ancient 

 knives of his people used to be made, namely, by inserting 

 small flattened pieces of the metal in a bone or ivory back, 

 and then with a piece of trap lying near, showed me how the 

 flakes of iron were detached". In 1895 Peary procured a 

 woman's knive, which was found in an old winter house at 

 INetschilivik, as also a man's knive from the old settlement 

 Kangerdlugsuark (Kangerdlooksoah) , far in on the south side 

 of Ingleheld Gulf, and both instruments were provided with an 

 edge of the natural iron Ч This use of the natural iron can 

 scarcely have arisen at the place itself, but is certainly due lo 

 some influence from outside. Possibly it came from the more 

 southerly west coast of Greenland over Melville Bay, or it may 

 have been learnt from the use which the Central Eskimos on 

 the North American continent make of the natural copper oc- 

 curring on the islands and coasts at Coronation Gulf. The 

 question cannot be further discussed here; for its solution we 

 require typological studies on archaeological material which is 

 still wanting. 



Of minerals which are of cultural importance for the 

 Polar Eskimos we also find sulphur pyrites, used for making 

 fire, and soapstone, from which lamps and cooking utensils 

 are made. The principal locality for sulphur pyrites is the so- 

 called "ignerite" hill (fire-stone hill) at Fitz Clarence Rock in 

 Booth Sound. One of the principal soapstone quarries lies on 

 the coast some kilometers west of the Petowik Glacier. 



^ R. Peary: Norhvvard etc. Vol. II, pp. 145 — 147, 612—614 ifig. of the two 

 knives). 



