124  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.   96 
stylistically  between  those  having  simple  dots — or  more  accurately 
small,  deep,  circular  pits — and  the  large  bold  circles  surrounding 
similar  pits  as  on  figure  28. 
IMPLEMENT  TYPES,  OLD  BERING  SEA 
Harpoon  Parts 
Foreshafts. — Considering  the  importance  of  the  foreshaft,  and  the 
many  that  must  have  been  used,  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that  only 
II  examples,  and  those  mostly  fragmentary,  were  found  at  the  Hill- 
side site  and  only  45  at  Miyowagh.  The  relative  scarcity  and  the  poor 
condition  of  the  foreshafts  is  probably  to  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
this  is  perhaps  the  least  stable  part  of  the  harpoon,  a  slender  rod  of 
ivory  fastened  into  the  heavy  socket  piece,  which  is  very  likely  to 
break  on  the  impact,  either  because  of  a  poor  cast  or  because  the 
free  end  fails  to  become  disengaged  from  the  socket  of  the  harpoon 
head  with  the  first  vigorous  movements  of  the  quarry.  Many  fore- 
shafts  must  have  been  broken  in  this  way  and  discarded  immediately, 
since  the  harpoon  would  be  useless  until  another  had  been  fitted  in 
place. 
The  foreshafts  from  the  Hillside  site,  though  few  in  numbers, 
varied  considerably  in  form.  One  of  them  is  the  decorated  specimen 
shown  in  text  figure  5,  which  was  found  beneath  the  floor  stones 
of  house  no.  i.  It  is  triangular  in  cross-section.  The  lower  end, 
which  rests  in  the  upper  end  of  the  socket  piece,  is  tapering  and  was 
probably  somewhat  pointed  originally ;  the  upper  end,  which  fits  into 
the  socket  of  the  harpoon  head,  is  broken.  Just  below  the  center  is 
the  line  hole,  a  narrow  slit  ii  mm  long.  Plate  29,  figure  2,  is  quad- 
rangular in  cross-section  with  one  face  much  narrower  than  the  other 
three.  The  line  hole  is  a  narrow  slit  as  in  text  figure  5  but  is  placed 
nearer  the  middle.  The  lower  end,  broken,  is  tapering ;  the  upper 
end  is  also  tapering,  and  its  rounded  shape  shows  that  it  was  intended 
for  a  harpoon  head  with  a  closed  socket.  Plate  29,  figure  3,  is  similar 
in  cross-section  but  the  fine  hole  is  higher  up.  The  base  is  conical 
and  sharpened,  the  upper  end  broken.  Two  other  fragments  resemble 
it  in  having  sharply  pointed  tangs  and  narrow  rectangular  line  holes 
9  and  12  mm  long  respectively.  One  other  fragment  has  a  triangular 
and  another  a  round  line  hole.  Plate  29,  figure  i,  differs  from  the 
others,  having  an  enlarged  and  somewhat  bulbous  lower  end,  just 
above  which  is  the  narrow  rectangular  line  hole;  it  is  only  6.7  cm 
long;  the  tang  is  blunt  and  the  tip  cylindrical.  Plate  29,  figure  4,  is 
a  complete  specimen  9.9  cm  long  with  pointed  tang  and  tip  and  a 
narrow  line  hole. 
