248  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
tively  small  amount  of  digging  done  there,  not  many  mammal  bones 
were  collected.  Only  the  following  species  are  recorded :  Walrus, 
ringed  seal,  harbor  seal,  dog  and  whale. 
The  old  section  of  Gambell  and  the  more  recent  house  ruins  (no.  8, 
9,  and  10)  yielded  walrus,  seal,  dog,  whale,  fox,  and  polar  bear  bones. 
From  the  most  recent  house  ruin  (no.  10)  came  the  cervical  vertebra 
of  a  horse. 
Comparison  of  the  mammal  remains  from  the  various  sites  shows 
that  the  Old  Bering  Sea  and  Punuk  Eskimos  hunted  the  same  species 
as  do  the  present  day  Eskimos.  A  possible  exception  is  the  right  whale, 
for  the  bones  of  this  mammal  were  not  found  at  the  Hillside  site,  al- 
though baleen  was  present.  The  abundance  of  walrus  bones  in  all  of 
the  middens  and  the  great  number  of  implements  made  of  ivory  show 
that  the  walrus  has  always  held  a  position  of  prime  importance  in  the 
economy  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Eskimos.  Considering  that  the  walrus 
was  the  principal  source  of  food,  of  oil  for  heating,  cooking,  and  il- 
lumination, and  of  the  skins  used  for  lines,  thongs,  and  boat  cover- 
ings, it  might  seem  that  this  animal,  if  any,  would  have  been  the  object 
of  ceremonial  observances  designed  to  propitiate  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  animals  in  order  to  insure  good  hunting  in  the  future.  We  have, 
of  course,  no  means  of  knowing  definitely  whether  or  not  there  were 
ceremonial  practices  in  connection  with  the  walrus  in  prehistoric  times. 
It  seems  significant,  however,  that  walrus  skulls  were  found  in  large 
numbers  at  all  of  the  old  sites,  whereas  seal  skulls  were  exceedingly 
rare,  evidently  having  been  disposed  of  in  some  particular  manner — 
no  doubt  thrown  into  the  sea — in  accordance  with  a  ceremonial  cus- 
tom still  observed  by  the  vSt.  Lawrence  and  other  Eskimos.  It  is 
evident  from  the  dried  seal  muzzles  tied  together  with  baleen  thongs 
and  the  bearded  seal  skull  with  suspension  cord  of  baleen  found  in 
cuts  16  and  6  at  Miyowagh  that  ceremonial  practices,  much  like  those 
of  today,  were  observed  by  the  Old  Bering  Sea  Eskimos  in  connection 
with  the  disposal  of  seal  remains.  On  the  whole,  it  would  seem  that 
just  as  today,  the  walrus,  in  spite  of  its  economic  importance,  was 
accorded  scant  respect  as  compared  with  the  seal. 
Seal  bones,  however,  were  found  in  large  numbers  at  all  of  the 
sites,  showing  that  as  a  food  animal  it  was  second  only  to  the  walrus. 
We  found  no  evidence — such  as  burned  or  cracked  scapulae — ^to 
indicate  that  scapulimancy  had  ever  been  practiced. 
In  connection  with  the  dog  bones,  which  were  also  abundant,  it 
is  of  interest  to  observe  that  Gerrit  S.  Miller,  Jr.  and  Dr.  Kellogg 
think  that  the  skulls  from  the  Hillside  site  and  the  southeastern  section 
of  Miyowagh  represent  a  different  breed  from  those  found  at  the 
