NO.    I  ARCHEOLOGY    OF    ST.    LAWRENCE    ISLAND — COLLINS  II5 
ably  equal  in  length.  Most  remarkable,  however,  is  the  extreme  nar- 
rowness of  these  slots,  usually  a  little  less  than  2  mm ;  the  vertical 
length,  or  height,  averages  around  8  mm.  The  cutting  of  such  a  long, 
narrow  slot  must  have  been  difficult,  and  it  would  be  of  interest  to 
know  just  what  kind  of  tool  was  employed. 
In  several  instances  closed  socket  heads  were  found  which,  after 
breaking,  had  been  provided  with  a  groove  and  used  in  the  manner 
of  the  open  socket  type. 
The  position  of  the  lateral  spur  on  open  socket  heads,  whether  to 
the  right  or  to  the  left,  seems  to  have  been  a  matter  of  choice,  some- 
what more  than  half  of  them  having  the  spur  on  the  right  side. 
It  was  somewhat  surprising  that  among  the  great  number  of  har- 
poon heads  from  Gambell  which  had  been  provided  with  end  blades 
of  stone,  only  one  had  the  blade  still  in  place.  Side  blades,  on  the 
other  hand,  being  firmly  wedged  in  deep  slots,  were  often  found  in 
place.  The  slit  for  the  end  blade  was  rather  wide,  averaging  on  the 
whole  around  2  mm,  some  being  as  wide  as  3  mm.  This  width  of 
the  blade  slit,  together  with  the  great  number  of  complete  or  frag- 
mentary slate  blades  which  were  found,  shows  clearly  that  stone  was 
the  only  material  used  for  harpoon  blades.  If  iron  blades  had  been 
used,  some  traces  of  the  metal  would  have  remained,  either  as  cor- 
roded particles  or  as  stains,  but  nothing  of  this  nature  was  found. 
From  a  number  of  unfinished  specimens  and  from  the  appearance 
of  many  of  the  blade  slits  themselves,  it  can  be  seen  that  in  many  cases 
the  slits  were  not  made  by  cutting  directly  from  the  tip,  but  that 
instead,  a  slot  of  uniform  breadth  was  first  cut  through  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  leaving  the  upper  ends  connected.  This  connection 
at  the  tip  was  then  cut  through,  but  by  means  of  a  narrower  slit.  When 
completed,  therefore,  the  blade  slit  was  wider  at  the  bottom  than  at 
the  top,  with  the  result  that  the  tips  would  have  to  be  sprung  back 
slightly  to  receive  the  blade  which  would  then  be  held  firmly  in  place. 
It  should  be  noted  that  in  harpoon  heads  with  an  end  blade,  those 
having  the  blade  parallel  with  the  line  hole  are  usually  thin  in  cross- 
section,  whereas  those  in  which  the  blade  and  line  hole  are  at  right 
angles  are  thicker.  The  reverse  is  true  of  harpoon  heads  with  side 
blades:  those  having  the  blades  parallel  with  the  Hne  hole  (or  holes) 
are  relatively  thick  in  cross-section,  whereas  those  with  blades  and 
line  hole  (or  holes)  at  right  angles  are  thin. 
HARPOON    HEADS,    EARLY    PUNUK,    FROM    MIYOWAGH 
In  plate  28  are  shown  a  number  of  open  and  closed  socket  harpoon 
heads  of  Punuk  type  from  Miyowagh,  most  of  them  from  the  later, 
northwestern  section  of  the  midden. 
