MUEDocH.] BONE CIvTsni'.KS. f)3 



they use for holdiiij; water, etc., and soinciimrs lii wiili hails of siriiiu' 

 or ■wire, so as to use them for eookinj;- ])orri<lu<'. etc.. dxcr I lie lain]). 

 They had learned the vahu' of these as eaily as Maunire's time,' as had 

 the people of Tlover I'.ay in lsn».-' 



Bone crtishers. — In jjreparin.ii- food it is (.I'tfii dcsiralde to Itrcalv tlic 

 large bones of the meat, both to oblain Ilic inariow ami to lacililal.- 1 lie 



trying out of the fat for makin- til. ■ p.- liraii already dfscrili.Ml. Deer 



bones are crushed into a sort of cdarse li.>ne meal I'.ii- teeilin-- the doi;s 

 when traveling. For this jmriiose heavy shorthandled stone mauls are 

 used. These tools may have been formerly serviceable as hammers for 

 driving treenails, etc., as the first specimen ol)fained was described as 

 "savik-indjuk-nunamisini'ktni: kau'ft;" (literally ••iron-nof dead ham- 

 mer"), or the hammer tised by those now dead, who had no iron, l-'or 

 this purpose, however, they are wholly sniierseded b.\- iron hammers, 

 and are now only used for bone cinshers. 'flie e<illection cuufains a 

 large series of these implements, namely, i:'> comiilete manls and \'-\ 

 iinhafted heads. All are constructed on the same uciieial plan, eon 

 sisting of an ol)long roughly cylindrical mass of stone, with Hat ends, 

 mounted on the exi)anded end of a short haft, which is aiPi>lied to the 

 middle of one side of the cylinder and is slightly curved, Uke the handle 

 of an adz. Such a haft is fre(|nent]y made of the "branch" of a rein- 

 deer antler, and the expand. -d en.l is made by cutting off a ii..rtion of 

 the "beam" where the liranch J.>ins it. A haft s.) made is naturally 

 elliptical and slightly .airve.l at right angl.-s to the l..nger diameter of 

 the ellipse, au.l is appli.d b. tli.' h.'ad s,. that tin- gr.'at.'st thickness 

 and therefore th.- gr.'at.'st str.'ngtli .-onn^s in th.' lin.- ..f tli.' bl.)w, as in 

 a civilized ax or hammer. The h.-ad an.l haft are held t..gether by a 

 lashing of thong or three-ply braid of sinew, passing through a large 

 hole in the large end of the haft and round the head. This lashing is 

 l)ut on wet ami dries hard and tight.^ It tbilows the same general plan 

 in all the specimens, though no two are exactly alike. The material of 

 the lieatls, with three exceptions (Xo. tmU [222], gray porphjTy ; No. 

 89654 [900], black quartzite, ami Xo. 890.55 [1241], coarse-grained gray 

 syenite), is massive pectolite ( s.'c abi >ve, p. 00). generally of a pale, greenish 

 or bluish gray color and slightly transhuMMit, sohietimes dark an.l opaipie. 

 No. 50035 [24:5] will serve as the type of these implements.^ 



Tlie head is of light bluish gray pectolite, and is lashed with a thrce- 

 l>ly brai.l of reindeer sinew to a haft of some soft coniferous wood, prob- 

 ably sprn.c, rather smoothly whittled out and soiled by handling. The 

 transverse ridge .)n the un.l.'r si.l.' .)f the butt is t.) kt^op the hand from 

 slipping off the giip. Th.' wli..le is dirty and shows signs of .M.nsi.ler- 

 able age. 



'Sio Further Piipcra, cto., p. OIK). 

 'Hooper, Tents, etc., p. 57. 



"Wc saw this .lonoon Nn. 5liC3t ISI], tli.- h.-riil iiii.l haft ot which 

 tog<!ther by au Eskimo at thii station. 

 •Figured in Ray's Point Barrow Report, Kthnoliiiiy. I'l. ii. Fig. 6. 



