6 A CURIOUS AINO TOY. 



An analogous case has lately come to light in a curious 

 wooden object found in a tumulus in Norway. In this 

 case, however, the object is more complex in character. 

 In the JBergens Museums Aarsberetning for 1890 is a paper 

 by Gabriel Gustafson, curator of the Antiquarian depart- 

 ment in the Bergens Museum, entitled "A Strange Wooden 

 Object found in a Norwegian Tumulus." The tumulus in 

 question contained the skeleton of a man associated with 

 weapons, large pieces of dress, remains of belts, with 

 bronze mountings, brooch-clasps of silver, a gold solidus 

 of Roman origin, etc., objects peculiar to a group of 

 grave-finds which occur in western Norway. The period is 

 supposed to be somewhere between the sixth and eighth 

 centuries. The peculiar point of interest was the finding 

 on the breast of the skeleton a curious wooden object 

 carved out of a single block and made in such a way that 

 it could be opened to form a square, or closed by the va- 

 rious elements shutting up on each other after the manner 

 of interclasping fingers. Whether this object had a mys- 

 tical meaning or was simply a puzzle, was a matter of con- 

 jecture. It was important, however, to seek for some 

 similar object with which to compare. The extraordinary 

 fact is that its counterpart was finally found in the South 

 Kensington Museum labelled as coming from Persia and 

 of modern origin. The Persian specimen differed some- 

 what in unessential details, but the principle of interlock- 

 ing, its being wrought from a single block of wood, its 

 closing up in precisely the same way were coincidences of 

 such an extraordinary nature that Mr. Gustafson felt jus- 

 tified in making a somewhat extended discussion of the 

 subject. It seems incredible that two such complex and 

 peculiar objects so closely resembling each other could 

 have originated independently. Mr. Gustafson comes to 

 the conclusion that these objects must have had a common 

 origin. 



