254  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
were  caught  in  great  numbers  to  judge  from  the  quantities  of  bones 
in  the  middens ;  these  were  mostly  of  sea  birds,  such  as  murres,  cor- 
morants, auklets,  gulls,  ducks,  etc.  and  of  other  large  birds  such  as 
loons,  geese,  and  cranes.  The  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  bird  dart  with 
side  prongs,  used  with  a  throwing  board,  seem  to  have  been  the  prin- 
cipal means  of  capturing  birds,  though  baleen  snares  were  doubtless 
employed  also ;  the  bola  was  not  used.  Fishing  was  also  an  occupa- 
tion of  some  importance  if  we  may  judge  from  the  number  of  ivory 
sinkers ;  but.  curiously  enough,  hooks  were  not  found,  these  probably 
having  been  a  sharp  sliver  of  bone  fastened  to  a  shaft. 
The  tools  used  by  the  Old  Bering  Sea  Eskimos  were  stone-bladed 
knives  of  various  kinds,  stone  gravers,  side  scrapers,  and  end  scrapers, 
adzes,  bow  drills,  reamers,  and  wedges.  Heavy  ivory  picks  and  mat- 
tocks made  of  whale  ribs  were  used  for  digging  in  the  frozen  ground ; 
snow  shovels  were  made  of  walrus  scapulae.  Household  utensils  in- 
cluded baleen  pails  with  wooden  bottoms  and  handles,  wooden  bowls, 
ladles,  spoons,  ivory  fat  scrapers,  earthenware  lamps  and  cooking  pots. 
Ornaments  were  rather  uncommon,  consisting  only  of  brow  bands, 
buckles,  gorgets,  and  others  of  uncertain  identification.  Children's 
toys  were  made  of  wood,  bark,  baleen,  ivory,  and  bone.  A  striking 
feature  of  the  Old  Bering  Sea  culture  is  the  great  number  of  objects, 
even  those  of  a  utilitarian  nature,  which  are  beautifully  ornamented 
with  the  art  characteristic  of  the  period.  During  the  earlier  stage  of 
the  occupancy  of  Miyowagh  this  art  reached  its  highest  stage  of  de- 
velopment. Later,  as  the  village  expanded  toward  the  north  and  west, 
changes  came  about  in  art,  harpoon  heads,  and  other  types  of  imple- 
ments. These  changes  are  clearly  revealed  by  the  objects  excavated 
from  the  northwestern  section  of  the  midden  (except  from  the  very 
bottom)  and  at  some  places  in  the  upper  levels  of  the  older,  south- 
eastern section.  It  was  these  changes,  which  with  regard  to  art, 
were  all  in  the  direction  of  simplification  or  degeneration,  that  in- 
augurated the  Punuk  stage. 
We  may  assume  that  during  the  time  Miyowagh  was  occupied,  the 
low  gravel  foreland  was  taking  its  present  shape,  as  one  beach  line 
after  another  was  formed  by  the  scouring  action  of  the  ice  pack  and 
of  storm  waves  along  the  north  shore.  When,  after  a  considerable 
period,  the  sea  had  receded  so  far  as  to  leave  Miyowagh  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  inland  from  the  north  shore,  the  third  village, 
levoghiyoq,  was  established  further  out  on  the  gravel  spit,  and  the 
fourth  village,  Seklowaghyaget,  may  have  been  settled  at  about  the 
same  time. 
At  levoghiyoq,  and  also  at  Miyowagh  during  its  latest  stage  of  oc- 
cupancy, life  continued  on  much  the  same  basis  as  before.    Houses 
