130  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
Float  mouthpieces. — It  is  of  interest  to  observe  that  no  tubular 
ivory  mouthpieces  such  as  the  modern  Eskimos  use  for  inflating  the 
bladder  floats  on  light  harpoons  were  found  at  the  Hillside  site  or  the 
Old  Bering  Sea  sections  of  Miyowagh,  although  several  were  found 
in  the  later  sections  of  Miyowagh.  The  Old  Bering  Sea  type  of  mouth- 
piece was  a  round  or  oval  wooden  plug,  evidently  for  a  sealskin  float 
used  with  a  heavier  harpoon.  Twenty-one  of  these  wooden  mouth- 
pieces, with  a  hole  through  the  center  and  a  deep  groove  around  the 
edge  were  found  at  Miyowagh.  The  three  examples  shown  in  plate 
2)2,  figures  13-15,  illustrate  the  range  of  shapes:  oval  to  circular,  and 
with  the  top  surface  flat,  convex,  or  conical.  They  were  found  as 
follows :  Cut  4,  43  inches ;  55  inches.  Cut  9,  depth  unknown.  Cut 
9a,  60  inches.  Cut  18,  36  inches;  44  inches  (2)  (pi.  32,  fig.  13)  ; 
48  inches  (pi.  32,  fig.  14)  ;  68  inches.  Cut  19,  34  inches;  59  inches 
(2)  ;  63  inches.  Cut  23,  39  inches  ;  45  inches;  58  inches.  Cut  24,  54 
inches;  64  inches;  ^2  inches.  Cut  25,  55  inches  (pi.  32,  fig.  15).  Cut 
29,  36  inches.  This  distribution  is  rather  striking;  most  of  the  21 
specimens  come  from  the  older  section  of  the  midden  and  mostly  from 
the  lower  levels,  and  the  two  from  the  later  section  (cut  4)  are  also 
fairly  deep.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  this  is  an  old  type  which 
began  to  fall  into  disuse  during  the  period  Miyowagh  was  occupied. 
For  closing  the  openings  of  such  mouthpieces,  a  xvooden  stopper 
was  used  (pi.  32,  figs.  21,  22).  There  are  19  of  these,  distributed  in 
much  the  same  way  as  the  mouthpieces  :  Cut  18,  28  inches  ;  34  inches  ; 
36  inches ;  44  inches  (pi.  32,  fig.  21 )  ;  48  inches  ;  49  inches  ;  59  inches  ; 
60  inches;  63  inches;  66  inches;  72  inches.  Cut  19,  56  inches  (pi. 
32,  fig.  22).  Cut  22,  36  inches.  Cut  24,  54  inches;  72  inches.  Cut 
25,  72  inches.   Cut  27,  26  inches;  38  inches.   Cut  28,  31  inches. 
No  float  mouthpieces  were  found  at  the  Hillside  site,  but  the  pres- 
ence of  two  wooden  stoppers  like  those  illustrated  from  Miyowagh 
shows  that  they  were  used. 
Float  plugs. — Wooden  or  ivory  plugs  were  used  for  closing  holes 
(either  the  natural  orifices  or  wound  tears)  in  the  sealskin  floats. 
Three  of  these,  of  wood,  are  very  similar  to  the  mouthpieces,  lacking 
only  the  perforation.  One  is  shown  in  plate  32,  figure  16  (cut  9, 
48  in.)  ;  it  is  oval  and  has  a  very  deep,  wide  groove.  The  other  two 
are  from  cut  i,  42  inches,  and  cut  18,  44  inches.  There  are  also  four 
ivory  plugs:  plate  32,  figure  17  (cut  2,  12  in.)  is  long  and  narrow, 
with  a  deep,  wide  groove  ;  it  has  a  flat  base  and  a  convex  top,  on  which 
a  decoration,  much  eroded,  is  still  visible.  Plate  32,  figure  18  (cut  22, 
41  in.)  is  the  same,  but  shorter  and  wider;  it  may  be  unfinished  as 
the  groove  is  very  shallow.    Plate  32,  figure  19  (cut  25,  18  in.)  is 
