﻿12 
  ANNUAL 
  liEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  show 
  peculiar 
  features 
  which 
  are 
  worth 
  recording. 
  Two 
  pillars, 
  hexagonal 
  in 
  

   section 
  and 
  carved 
  with 
  dragons 
  coiled 
  around 
  them, 
  are 
  found 
  at 
  the 
  entrance. 
  

   The 
  left 
  one 
  is 
  especially 
  interesting, 
  because 
  in 
  the 
  claws 
  of 
  the 
  dragon 
  are 
  

   grasped 
  two 
  human 
  heads 
  with 
  perfect 
  Grecian 
  features 
  — 
  curly 
  hair, 
  aquiline 
  

   and 
  finely 
  chiseled 
  nost>, 
  small 
  mouth, 
  and 
  receding 
  cheeks. 
  One 
  head 
  with 
  the 
  

   tongue 
  sticking 
  out 
  is 
  held 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  dragon, 
  while 
  the 
  other 
  is 
  held 
  

   in 
  the 
  talons 
  of 
  one 
  hind 
  leg. 
  It 
  is 
  an 
  unusually 
  tine 
  piece 
  of 
  sculpture 
  in 
  lime- 
  

   stone, 
  wonderfully 
  spaced 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  most 
  graceful 
  lines. 
  The 
  right 
  one 
  is 
  

   inferior 
  in 
  its 
  workmanship 
  ; 
  evidently 
  the 
  two 
  were 
  not 
  executed 
  by 
  the 
  same 
  

   hand. 
  I 
  saw 
  28 
  of 
  this 
  kind 
  of 
  pillar 
  in 
  the 
  suciteeding 
  two 
  days, 
  but 
  most 
  of 
  

   them 
  were 
  crude 
  imitations. 
  It 
  is 
  possible, 
  however, 
  that 
  some 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  type 
  and 
  were 
  made 
  earlier 
  than 
  others. 
  The 
  whole 
  subject 
  is 
  well 
  

   worth 
  more 
  detailed 
  study. 
  

  

  ANTIIROrOLOGICAL 
  SUKVEY 
  OF 
  ALASKA 
  

  

  A 
  reconnaissance 
  of 
  anthropological 
  and 
  arclieological 
  matters 
  in 
  

   Alaska 
  was 
  undertaken 
  during 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  summer 
  of 
  1926 
  by 
  

   Dr. 
  Ales 
  Hrdlicka, 
  curator 
  of 
  physical 
  anthropology 
  in 
  the 
  Nationa] 
  

   Museum, 
  under 
  the 
  auspices 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  American 
  Ethnology. 
  

   An 
  arclieological 
  reconnaissance 
  of 
  Alaska 
  presents 
  many 
  difficulties. 
  

   Although 
  Alaska 
  is 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  one-third 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  it 
  has 
  

   less 
  than 
  200 
  miles 
  of 
  good 
  roads 
  ; 
  the 
  interior 
  is 
  practically 
  impass- 
  

   able 
  except 
  for 
  short 
  stretches 
  during 
  the 
  brief 
  summer; 
  and 
  trans- 
  

   portation 
  by 
  boat 
  is 
  very 
  hard 
  to 
  obtain 
  and 
  very 
  expensive. 
  The 
  

   people 
  of 
  Alaska, 
  however, 
  were 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  helpful 
  and 
  gener- 
  

   ous, 
  and 
  with 
  their 
  help 
  Doctor 
  Hrdlicka 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  overcome 
  many 
  

   of 
  the 
  difficulties 
  encountered. 
  When 
  the 
  Bering 
  Sea 
  v>'as 
  reached, 
  he 
  

   v»'as 
  fortunate 
  enough 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  revenue 
  cutter 
  Bear 
  willing 
  to 
  help, 
  

   and 
  on 
  it 
  he 
  was 
  enabled 
  to 
  inspect 
  the 
  sites 
  of 
  arclieological 
  interest 
  

   along 
  tlie 
  Seward 
  Peninsula, 
  the 
  Kotzebue 
  Sound, 
  and 
  through 
  tlie 
  

   Arctic 
  Sea 
  up 
  to 
  Barrow. 
  

  

  The 
  journey 
  led 
  from 
  Vancouver 
  to 
  Juneau, 
  thence 
  to 
  Seward, 
  

   Anchorage, 
  Eklutney, 
  Nenana, 
  and 
  Tanana. 
  From 
  here 
  the 
  route 
  

   led 
  inland 
  from 
  the 
  junction 
  of 
  the 
  Tanana 
  to 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  

   Yukon, 
  concluding 
  with 
  the 
  voyage 
  in 
  Bering 
  Sea. 
  

  

  Doctor 
  Hrdlicka 
  collected 
  many 
  artifacts 
  of 
  metal, 
  bone, 
  and 
  ivory, 
  

   examined 
  skeletal 
  remains 
  in 
  many 
  old 
  burial 
  places, 
  examined 
  the 
  

   differentiation 
  between 
  Eskimo 
  and 
  Indian 
  in 
  ph3'sical 
  and 
  cultural 
  

   characters, 
  and 
  observed 
  the 
  conditions 
  governing 
  the 
  possibilities 
  

   of 
  tlie 
  Mongoloid 
  migrations 
  through 
  Bering 
  Sea, 
  which 
  are 
  sup- 
  

   posed 
  to 
  have 
  populated 
  the 
  Americas. 
  He 
  was 
  convinced 
  that 
  such 
  

   migrations 
  were 
  so 
  easy 
  as 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  indeed 
  inevitable, 
  and 
  that 
  

   the 
  Eskimo 
  and 
  Indian 
  races 
  trace 
  from 
  a 
  common 
  Mongoloid 
  stem, 
  

   having 
  its 
  American 
  dispersal 
  from 
  the 
  Alaskan 
  peninsula. 
  The 
  

   ancient 
  Alaskan 
  artifacts 
  discovered 
  point 
  to 
  a 
  high 
  grade 
  of 
  native 
  

   art, 
  almost 
  on 
  a 
  jjar 
  with 
  the 
  high 
  cultures 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  Yucatan, 
  and 
  

   Peru. 
  

  

  