126  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
might  have  been  foreshafts.  In  view  of  the  many  possible  uses  which 
such  simple  objects  might  have  had,  it  seems  better  not  to  attribute 
any  particular  function  to  them  as  a  group. 
The  two  fragments  shown  in  plate  33,  figures  26  and  27,  from  cut 
19,  12  and  24  inches  deep,  respectively,  seem  too  small  to  have  been 
socket  pieces  for  harpoons ;  they  were  probably  for  darts,  although 
there  is  no  evidence  as  to  the  nature  of  the  heads  used  with  them. 
The  first  has  a  rounded  knob  at  the  end  and  a  small,  round  socket  13 
mm  deep  and  7  mm  in  diameter.  Encircling  the  socket  are  two  closely 
spaced  lines  with  spurs  attached,  and  below  these  a  third  line,  also 
spurred.  Plate  33',  figure  27,  has  a  raised  rim  and  a  small  round 
socket  19  mm  deep  and  6  mm  in  diameter.  The  exact  function  of 
the  two  small  socket  pieces  shown  in  plate  33,  figures  28  and  29,  is 
likewise  uncertain;  they  are  from  cut  7,  37  inches,  and  cut  10,  40 
inches  deep.  Both  have  rounded  sockets  and  triangular  holes  near 
the  base ;  the  tang  of  the  first  is  conical,  that  of  the  second  wedge- 
shaped  with  the  hole  passing  through  it. 
Shafts. — Plate  46,  figure  15  (cut  18,  depth  44  in.)  is  probably  a 
piece  of  a  harpoon  shaft.  It  is  oval  in  cross-section  and  has  a  slanting, 
scarfed  surface  where  another  section,  cut  in  the  same  way,  was 
joined  on.  At  the  upper  end  is  a  socket  5.7  cm  deep  in  which  the 
tang  of  the  socket  piece  rested. 
Lances. — Plate  57,  figure  i,  is  a  detachable  wooden  foreshaft  for 
a  lance,  from  cut  2^,  depth  81  inches.  It  is  a  flattened  oval  in  cross- 
section  and  is  32.3  cm  long,  with  a  blunt,  rounded  tang  and  a  blade 
slit  3  cm  long.  Nelson  figures  several  lance  foreshafts  of  this  same 
general  type  from  western  Alaska  (pi.  57)  and  describes  their  use 
as  follows : 
These  lances  are  used  when  the  seal  or  walrus  has  been  disabled,  so  that  it 
can  not  keep  out  of  reach  of  its  pursuers,  when  the  hunter  paddles  up  close 
alongside  and  strikes  the  animal,  driving  the  detachable  head  in  its  entire  length. 
The  head  remains  in  the  animal,  and  the  hunter  immediately  fits  another  point 
into  the  shaft  and  repeats  the  blow,  thus  inserting  as  many  of  the  barbed  heads 
as  possible,  until  the  animal  is  killed  or  the  supply  of  points  exhausted.  [Nelson, 
p.   147.] 
Socket  pieces. — Two  harpoon  socket  pieces  were  found  at  the 
Hillside  site;  one  of  these  is  the  beautifully  decorated  but  badly 
weathered  specimen  shown  in  plate  13,  figure  i,  the  ornamentation 
of  which  has  been  described  on  page  48.  it  is  15  cm  long  and  is 
broken  ofif  at  the  line  hole.  It  is  oval  to  round  in  cross-section,  and 
was  probably  more  than  20  cm  long  originally.  In  the  upper  end  is 
a  pit  for  the  foreshaft   1.5  cm  deep  and   1.4  cm  in  diameter,  which 
