SMlllISUNIAN KXl'I.OKATJONS, 1 (JJS I49 



of the old art, and the ahnost modern stamp of most of the specimens, 

 shows that Metlatavik was settled in comparatively recent times, 

 prohably not earlier than 200 years ago. 



There has been in the past a widely held opinion that the original 

 Eskimo culture arose in north central Canada and spread east and 

 west to Greenland and Alaska. Idie com])aratively rich art of the 

 modern Alaskan Eskimo, together with other features of their culture, 

 was thought to have been strongly influenced by later contact with 

 neighboring- Indian tribes. ( )n the contrary, it now appears that the 

 modern Alaskan Eskimo are di recti v descended from a very early, 

 even more advanced Eskimo group that flourished for centuries in 

 and about Bering Strait. 



The beginnings of this ancient F.skimo culture remain to be traced. 

 If the lower levels of the middens at the northern and northwestern 

 St. Lawrence sites reveal no evidence of its early development this 

 may very likely be found to have taken place in northeastern Siberia, 

 in the region occupied at ])resent by the Siberian Eskimo or along 

 the Arctic coast immediately to the westward. The reasons favoring 

 Siberia in this regard are the following : The modern St. Lawrence 

 Island and Siberian Eskimo are closely akin, speak the same dialect 

 and maintain trade and social contacts. Our archeological work shows 

 this relationship to have extended back far beyond the historic period. 

 And finally, the old style of art is perfectly represented on a numl)er 

 of specimens from northeastern Siberia that have found their way 

 into various museums. 



That this early Alaskan culture exerted a strong- influence to the 

 eastward is shown by the recent finds of T. Mathiassen, the Danish 

 archeologist. The Thule culture which he finds in northwest Green- 

 land, Bafiin Land, and north of Hudson Ba\- is the most ancient that 

 has come to light in those regions. It is. however, clearly derived from 

 Alaska, from where it seems to have si)read at a relativelv late period, 

 after the ancient Alaska culture had established itself on the islands 

 and on both sides of Bering Strait. 



Thus we begin to get a somewhat clearer view of the more impor- 

 tant early movements of the Eskimo. There have. ap])arently, been 

 various other and counter movements ; strongly localized cultures may 

 have sprung up ; and direct or indirect contact with Indian tribes has 

 influenced to a certain degree some of the Eskimo groups. Such 

 movements, growths, and contacts have doubtless had a large part in 

 the development of the present Eskimo groups, from Greenland to 

 Siberia, and yet the archeological evidence, which is the most direct 



