142 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



(who later at Marshall became quite friendly) and with happy re- 

 sults, for there was found in the background an old site which other- 

 wise would have escaped us. 



The examination of the living, after due explanations, met with 

 practically no objection and many thanked me for being told of their 

 physical condition. The casting — " making stone faces " the Indians 

 called it — was a little more difficult, but a modest compensation with 

 the prospect of " having their faces in Washington " prevailed in 

 most cases. The main difficulty was, not to get the consent of the 

 people, but to find normal full-bloods — they are getting very scarce 

 along the river, especially in its middle regions. 



The outstanding scientific results of the journey can be determined 

 clearly only after a detailed study of the data and specimens obtained. 

 It is certain, however, that for the first time it will be possible to show 

 definitely the anthropological nature of the Yukon population. The 

 indications as to conditions on the river are as follows : 



Ancient sites and remains, in the true sense of the word, have not 

 yet been discovered and there appears to be no chance of their dis- 

 covery unless it be through some rare fortunate accident. The reasons 

 are that what may have existed some thousands or even hundreds of 

 years ago has either been completely washed out by the ever cutting 

 waters or that it lies deeply buried somewhere in the jungles of the old 

 flats or foot hills far away from the present channels. Everything 

 that has so far been recovered is relatively recent. It goes back only 

 to the time of the Russians and perha])s the century or two preceding. 

 Even the oldest known specimens ])elong only to the U])per neolithic. 



The Indians of the Yukon, so far as the evidence extends, were 

 true Indians, with occasionally strongly marked late Asiatic affinities. 

 They show l)Ut little heterogeneity, belonging in the main to one type, 

 related on one hand strongly to the Thlinkit and on the other to the 

 Athabaskan. A somewhat aberrant small group may have existed 

 about the mouth of the Koyukuk. The Indians of the Kaltag region 

 have been admixed and perhaps in part replaced by Eskimo, who 

 doubtless came overland from the Norton Sound region. The Indians 

 of Anvik have been admixed similarly and from the same direction. 

 Between both Kaltag and Anvik and the Norton Sound there exist 

 relatively short portages and old roads. 



There is no clear line of demarcation, either culturally or physically, 

 between the Eskimo people of the lower and the Indian people of the 

 middle Yukon. The lower river culture was richer than that further 

 up. It extended at least as far as Bonasila (20 miles approximately 

 below Anvik), and possibly as far as the Greyling River (22 miles 



