62  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
rest  on  four  thicknesses  of  split  walrus  hides,  lying  at  a  depth  of 
41  inches.  Pieces  of  wood  and  bones,  from  the  cache,  continued  to 
this  depth  and  beyond. 
Cut  7. — Five  feet  north  of  entrance  to  house  no.  3 ;  8  feet  deep, 
taken  down  in  14  levels.  Specimens  numbered  235.  This  cut  afifords 
a  good  example  of  the  extent  to  which  patination  may  be  affected  by 
local  conditions.  The  ivory  from  the  first  (upper)  four  levels  was 
very  dark,  while  beginning  with  layer  5  (37  in.)  it  became  noticeably 
lighter  in  color,  that  from  the  last  five  layers  (75  to  96  in.)  being 
the  lightest  of  all.  This  condition  appears  to  be  the  result  of  water 
action.  The  midden  here  is  low  and  in  early  summer  is  more  or  less 
saturated  by  water  that  flows  down  the  hillside.  This  has  discolored 
the  ivory  in  the  upper  part  of  the  midden,  while  that  in  the  permanently 
frozen  soil  below  has  escaped  saturation  and  remained  lighter  in  color. 
Timbers  and  whale  bones  of  a  razed  structure  of  some  sort  were 
found  beginning  at  the  6-foot  and  extending  to  the  7-foot  level.  Two 
examples  of  Punuk  art  from  this  cut,  a  harpoon  head  with  a  light 
line  and  spur  decoration,  from  a  depth  of  20  inches,  and  another, 
62  inches  deep,  with  the  earlier  simple  line  decoration  (pi.  24,  fig. 
20).  The  other  decorated  objects  were  all  in  Old  Bering  Sea  style; 
they  were  found  at  the  following  depths:  67  inches  (2)  (pi.  19, 
fig.  2;  pi.  24,  fig.  16)  ;  75  inches  (pi.  24,  fig.  i)  ;  92  inches  (pi.  24, 
fig.  11);  96  inches  (pi.  24,  fig.  13).  The  unfinished  winged  object 
shown  in  plate  20,  figure  2,  came  from  a  depth  of  80  inches ;  another 
broken  specimen  of  the  same  type  from  a  depth  of  51  inches.  The 
needle  case  (pi.  17,  fig.  5)  came  from  a  depth  of  33  inches  and  the 
small  ivory  comb  (pi.  58,  fig.  10)  from  67  inches. 
Cut  8. — At  east  end  of  midden ;  30  feet  NE.  of  house  no.  3 ;  6  feet 
deep,  taken  down  in  seven  levels.  Specimens  numbered  68.  This  cut 
was  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  midden,  which  in  early  summer  is  cov- 
ered with  water.  The  bone  and  ivory,  particularly  the  latter,  is  dark 
colored  and  poorly  preserved,  even  that  from  the  bottom.  At  the 
SW.  corner  of  the  cut  was  found  part  of  a  filled-in  pit  which  ap- 
peared to  have  been  oval  and  about  6  feet  in  diameter.  The  inner  side 
of  the  pit  was  of  dark,  almost  black,  soil,  very  firmly  packed  and 
soaked  with  blubber.  It  was  filled  with  softer  and  lighter  colored  soil 
than  the  rest  of  the  cut.  Bordering  the  pit  and  extending  NW.  by  SE. 
was  a  row  of  fallen  whale  bones,  small  timbers,  and  one  walrus  skull, 
apparently  part  of  a  razed  wall.  Similar  material  was  found  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  cut,  beginning  at  a  depth  of  about  2  feet,  and  in 
order  to  follow  this  out  and  determine  if  possible  the  nature  of  the 
structure  it  represented,  four  other  cuts  were  begun  (cuts  10,  11,  12, 
