SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS. I929 



U5 



above Anvikj or even Kaltag. It was marked l)y a relative profusion 

 of stone implements, the presence of the stone adze, absence of the 

 bilateral stone axe, and more or less numerous artifacts of ivory, bone, 

 and antlers. The culture of the middle Yukon was less rich in forms 

 but was characterized by the bilateral stone axe and tomahawk. Pot- 

 tery was of much the same poor quality along- the whole river, though 

 there may have been differences in form and decoration. On the other 

 hand i)ainted l)urial boxes, which, it would seem, are trulv Indian. 



Fig. 129. — The Yukon Eskimo (lower Yukon). 



extended as far down as the vicinity of Holy Cross, and the language 

 was certainly Indian ( Tinneh ) down to Anvik, if not to above 

 Paimute. 



Physically, too. there is no line of clear separation. Kskimoid 

 physiognomies are encountered with decreasing frequency as far up as 

 Tanana, Indian to the mouth of the river ; while stature and skulls 

 show no great dififerences. The true (not lately immigrated) Eskimo 

 of the Yukon impresses one more like an Eskimo in the forming than 

 like the completed product of the far north. The results of the study 

 of the important skeletal collections from both the middle and the 

 lower parts of the Yukon will be awaited with much interest. The 

 population of the Shageluk Slough and Tnnoko River is wholly Indian, 



