134  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
tang  is  move  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  upper  part.    In  both  cases 
the  free  end  or  tip  is  pointed  or  nearly  so,  and  the  top  surface  flat. 
Plate  ^^,  figure  25  (cut  27,  16  in.),  is  an  ivory  peg  with  a  small 
rounded  socket  in  the  upper  end.  This  may  have  been  set  in  the 
butt  end  of  a  dart  shaft  to  engage  the  tip  of  a  spur  such  as  just  de- 
scribed ;  the  socket,  however,  seems  rather  small  for  this  purpose. 
Ice  Crekpers 
Like  the  modern  Eskimos  of  northern  Alaska,  those  of  the  Old 
Bering  Sea  period  used  "  ice  creepers  " — flat  pieces  of  bone  or  baleen 
with  inset  ivory  spikes,  which  were  attached  to  the  soles  of  the  boots 
to  keep  the  feet  from  slipping  when  walking  on  ice  (see  Nelson,  p. 
215).  The  collection  from  Miyowagh  includes  six,  all  different  from 
those  used  at  the  present  time.  Plate  ;^/,  figure  3  (cut  18,  81  in.)  is 
of  whale  bone,  with  three  inset  ivory  pegs  or  spikes.  It  was  fastened 
to  the  foot  by  means  of  thongs  which  passed  through  a  pair  of  holes 
at  each  end ;  the  holes  are  connected  by  sunken  grooves  to  prevent  the 
lashing  from  being  worn  down.  Plate  37,  figures  4,  5  are  of  baleen ; 
the  first  (cut  19,  51  in.)  has  the  ivory  pegs  in  place,  the  other  (cut  23, 
58  in.)  has  the  pegs  missing.  Another  baleen  specimen  similar  to 
this  but  shorter  was  found  at  a  depth  of  44  inches  in  cut  2y.  The 
two  other  ice  creepers  from  Miyowagh  are  of  bone  and  ivory,  but 
since  they  were  found  in  the  upi^er  levels  of  the  later  section  of  the 
midden,  they  are  described  with  Punuk  material  (see  pi.  75,  figs.  23 
and  25). 
Bows  AND  Arrows 
There  is  no  clear  evidence  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the  Old  Bering 
Sea  bow.  From  a  number  of  fragments — and  toys— it  appears  that 
the  middle  was  constricted  and  thickened  and  the  ends  tapering.  The 
baleen  bow  shown  in  plate  55,  figure  i,  was  no  doubt  a  toy,  as  was 
also  the  smaller  (jne  in  jjlate  56,  figure  15,  and  the  two  of  wood  shown 
in  plate  59,  figures  26,  27.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  noted  that 
flat  bone  braces  such  as  are  used  on  some  of  the  modern  Alaskan 
sinew-backed  bows  and  the  sinew  twisters  which  are  always  associated 
with  the  latter  are  both  characteristic  of  the  Punuk  stage  but  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  used  during  the  Old  Bering  Sea  period.  From 
this  it  would  seem  fair  to  infer  that  the  sinew-backed  bow  was  un- 
known to  the  Old  Bering  Sea  Eskimos.  The  only  clear  example  of 
a  backed  bow  in  the  present  collection  is  a  toy,  with  rather  elaborate 
reinforcements  of  baleen  and  wood  from  cut  19,  depth  42  inches,  in 
the  early  Punuk  level  at  Miyowagh  (pi.  60,  fig.  8). 
M 
