112  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
bordering  lines,  and  being  left  undecorated,  stands  out  in  effective 
relief  between  the  decorated  panels  which  flank  it  on  either  side. 
The  type  V  y  heads  from  Miyowagh  which  belong  to  the  Punuk 
stage  will  be  considered  later. 
This  brings  to  an  end  our  study  of  the  harpoon  heads  of  the  Old 
Bering  Sea  period.  We  have  seen  that  the  oldest  heads,  those  from  the 
Hillside  site  and  from  the  lowest  levels  of  the  Miyowagh  midden, 
are  more  complicated  in  form  and  more  elaborately  ornamented  than 
others  which  came  into  use  at  Miyowagh  at  a  later  period.  Thus,  of 
the  most  complicated  form  of  all  (open  socket  types  I  x  and  I  y, 
with  tri furcated  spurs,  double  line  holes,  and  side  blades)  lO  ex- 
amples were  found,  5  of  them  from  the  Hillside  site  and  5  from  the 
lower  part  of  the  older,  or  southeastern,  section  of  Miyowagh.  Al- 
though the  double  line  hole  was  discontinued  at  a  very  early  period, 
divided  spurs  and  side  blades  were  retained  for  a  much  longer  time. 
The  first  important  derivative  forms  seem  to  have  been  types  H  x  and 
H  y,  which  have  only  one  line  hole  but  which  continue  the  old  associa- 
tion of  side  blades  and  trifurcated  spurs.  The  spur,  however,  has 
become  asymmetrical  and  more  or  less  lateral  in  position  instead  of 
symmetrical  and  median  as  previously.  Types  H  x  and  H  y,  in  turn, 
passed  out  of  use  at  a  relatively  early  period,  although  the  tradition 
of  side  blades  and  divided  spurs  (but  bifurcated  instead  of  trifurcated) 
was  carried  on  into  the  Punuk  stage,  as  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
observe  later. 
The  rest  of  the  open  socket  harpoon  heads  from  the  Hillside  site 
and  the  older  part  of  Miyowagh  fall  into  two  groups — types  HI  x 
and  HI  y.  Both  of  these  types  display  a  wide  range  of  variability, 
which,  however,  is  expressed  in  developmental  changes  within  defined 
limits,  the  basic  features  remaining  constant.  The  stratigraphic  evi- 
dence indicates  clearly  enough  that  the  observed  variations  are  truly 
developmental  in  nature,  reflecting  definite  stylistic  trends  over  a  con- 
siderable period  of  time.  Thus  the  types  HI  x  and  III  y  heads  that 
are  stratigraphically  the  oldest  (pi.  24,  figs.  11-18;  pi.  26,  figs.  1-3) 
are  characterized  by  relatively  large  size,  prominent  divided  spurs, 
and  an  elaborate  Old  Bering  Sea  ornamentation.  Through  a  process 
of  simplification  these  features  became  gradually  reduced,  with  the 
result  that  the  later  harpoon  heads  of  these  types  are  of  smaller  size, 
have  spurs  which  are  much  simpler  although  still  irregular,  and  are 
either  undecorated  or  bear  the  simple  ornamentation  of  the  early 
Punuk  (pi.  24,  figs.  19-21,  23  ;  pi.  26,  figs.  6-10).  Through  still  further 
changes  in  the  same  direction  the  latter  in  turn  developed  into  types 
HI  (a)  x  and  III  (a)  y,  the  predominant  types  of  the  Punuk  period, 
to  be  described  later. 
