200  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
single,  double,  or  in  horizontal  bands  of  four — is  to  be  classed  as  phase 
4  of  Punuk  style  2 ;  most  of  the  incisions  are  filled  with  red  pigment. 
There  is  no  stratigraphic  evidence  to  indicate  the  age  of  this  form 
in  relation  to  the  trident.  Typology,  however,  points  clearly  to  the 
trident  as  the  older  form,  one  which  through  a  series  of  intermediate 
stages  is  linked  with  the  winged  form  of  the  Old  Bering  Sea  period. 
The  decoration  on  the  "  turreted  "  pieces  is  likewise  of  a  later  style 
(phase  4  of  style  2),  whereas  that  most  commonly  seen  on  the  tridents 
is  phase  2  of  the  same  style.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  strong  proba- 
bility that  the  latest  of  the  tridents,  e.  g.,  plate  68,  figure  4,  were  con- 
temporaneous with  the  turreted  forms. 
In  no  other  class  of  artifacts  is  the  Eskimo's  feeling  for  form  and 
symmetry  better  exemplified  than  in  these  "  winged  ",  "  trident  ",  and 
"  turreted  "  objects.  The  Old  Bering  Sea  forms  with  their  broad 
spreading  wings,  some  of  them  resembling  a  whale's  tail,  some  a  bird 
or  a  butterfly,  possess  all  the  grace  and  symmetry  of  these  same 
forms  in  nature.  Through  gradual  modification,  in  which  the  wings 
become  more  and  more  attenuated,  there  evolves  a  different  form, 
the  trident ;  this  form,  although  having  in  its  perfected  stage  no  exact 
counterpart  in  nature,  is  a  concept  possessing  an  intrinsic  esthetic 
appeal  which  no  doubt  accounts  for  its  wide  distribution  in  the  Old 
World  among  both  primitive  and  civilized  peoples.  As  a  final  stage 
there  is  the  more  angular  "  turreted  "  form,  in  which  the  wings  and 
center  are  united.  Here  we  have  strict  artificiality,  somewhat  remi- 
niscent of  a  heraldic  device ;  but  this  last  stage,  though  far  removed 
from  the  flowing  beauty  of  the  earlier  forms,  has  a  straightened  and 
pleasing  symmetry  of  its  own. 
What  may  we  say  as  to  the  function  of  these  curious  objects?  Ex- 
planations advanced  by  the  modern  Eskimos  are  of  little  assistance, 
since  they  have  no  recollection  of  even  the  most  recent  forms.  Some 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  Island  Eskimos  thought  that  the  tridents  might 
have  been  ornaments  for  war  helmets  and  the  fact  that  the  Japanese 
warriors  of  feudal  times  wore  metal  helmet  ornaments  of  a  somewhat 
similar  shape  would  seem  to  lend  plausibility  to  such  an  explanation. 
However,  this  would  fail  to  explain  the  use  of  the  earlier  winged  forms 
of  the  Old  Bering  Sea  culture  since  there  is  no  evidence  that  defensive 
armor  of  any  kind  was  used  on  St.  Lawrence  Island  until  well  into 
the  Punuk  period.  Gordon  (1916,  p.  62)  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
winged  objects  were  used  in  whaling  ceremonies,  and  on  the  whole 
this  seems  as  good  an  explanation  as  any,  even  though  Gordon  was 
undoubtedly  mistaken  in  assuming  that  they  had  been  so  used  in 
modern  times.  Gordon  also  considered  that  they  were  genetically  re- 
lated to  the  prehistoric  banner  stones  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  United 
