Implements and Artefacts of the North-east Greenlanders. 439 



tapers down towards the point, where it is 9 mm. The bit belonging 

 to this drill is not preserved, but must, judging from the smallness 

 of the socket into which it fitted, have been of iron, whereas all the bits 

 brought home by the expedition were either of bone or stone. 



The most characteristic, and best-preserved, of the bits 

 found, is that shown in PL XIV, 18, (L. 3949). This spec- 

 imen was found at house 528, Rypefjeldet; it is 5'9 cm. long, 

 and made of a greyish slate. The hinder portion, for a length 

 of 3*3 cm., forms a tang, about 1-3 cm. broad, tapering down 

 towards the rear, so as to fit into a cleft shaft. The forepart 

 narrows down evenly towards the point, the point itself being 

 only about 4 mm. long, ground down from different sides, 

 the facets meeting in an obtuse angle. The whole piece, with 

 the exception of the lateral edges of the tang, is ground smooth; 

 its maximal thickness is 6 mm. 



Of the same type is the specimen shown in PL XIV, 19, 

 from house 132 on Renskseret (L. 3471). This is made of slate, 

 the outer layers of which have flaked off, until the piece ?| 2 . 

 is now quite thin. Length 4 cm., breadth of tang 1/5. 



In the same house was found the bit PL XIV, 17, 5*7 cm., long, 

 formed from the wall of a hollow bone. The tang, which is only 

 up to 8 mm. broad, is here, as in the case of L. 3949, tapered 

 down behind so as to fit more closely into the cleft of the shaft 

 (L. 3492). 



L. 3403 from Renskseret, house 130, of dark green slate, 3*3 cm. 

 long, is, like the foregoing, provided with a tang for hafting, but 

 the forepart is much shorter. A far rougher tool is the one shown 

 in PL XIII, 9 from house 406 at Snenajs (L. 3794). It is fashioned 

 of slate ; only the forepart and the lateral edges are ground, the sides 

 of the tang being left rough. Length in present state about 6*6 cm., 

 the extreme point being broken off. Breadth up to 2'1 cm., and 

 thickness close on 9 mm. at the part where the tang passes over 

 into the point. The tang, however, tapers evenly down towards the 

 hinder end, suggesting that this piece also, albeit but roughly shaped, 

 was intended for fitting into a shaft. 



In the neighbouring house, Snenses 407, the slate bit shown in 

 PL XIII, 13 was found. The point itself is short; the tang, 1'2 cm. 

 broad, which is broken off at the hinder end, is irregularly shaped, 

 thin at one edge and thick at the other, and does not appear to have 

 been intended for fitting to a drill-shaft, but to be used by hand, 

 and is thus perhaps rather an awl, or possibly a bodkin, than a 

 drill-bit (L. 3839). 



The fragmentary state of the last-mentioned specimen renders it 



31* 



