148 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



that the task of excavating to the hott(jm of such a site is a slow and 

 laborious one. In this particular case, however, we were fortunately 

 able to proceed more rapidly. On its outer side, facing the sea, the 

 midden rose abru]itly from the beach and our method of pro- 



FiG. 130. — Beginning excavation along the outer vertical face of the large 

 midden at Cape Kialegak, St. Lawrence Island. 



cedure was to strip away the outer thawed material from top to 

 bottom and level off irregularities until a practically vertical face was 

 exposed. When this had thawed for a few days we began at the top, 

 and standing on a ladder took the section down with a trowel in layers 

 two feet thick and five feet wide. This process was repeated as rapidly 

 as the newly exposed face thawed out. The same method of excavation 



