274  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
Specialization,  which  arose  from  the  necessity  of  protecting  from  snow 
and  wind  a  roof  opening  which  was  used  both  as  smoke  hole  and 
entrance. 
When  we  consider  the  architectural  features  which  distinguish  one 
type  of  Alaskan  Eskimo  house  from  another,  it  is  seen  that  the  Koryak 
house,  as  might  be  expected,  does  not  resemble  exclusively  any  one 
of  the  Alaskan  forms,  but  instead  embodies  certain  features  occurring 
separately  in  various  of  them  (with  perhaps  a  greater  resemblance 
to  southwest  Alaska  than  elsewhere)  together  with  a  few  others  which 
are  lacking  in  Alaska. 
The  next  type  of  Palae-Asiatic  house  is  that  of  the  Kamchadal, 
who  occupy  the  Kamchatka  Peninsula  to  the  southward  of  the  Koryak. 
Since  coming  under  Russian  influence  the  Kamchadal  no  longer  use 
the  underground  winter  house,  but  descriptions  have  been  left  by 
Steller,  Krasheninnikofif,  and  Cook. 
The  winter  house  was  rectangular  in  floor  plan  and  excavated  to 
a  depth  of  3  to  5  feet.  There  was  no  entrance  room  or  passage.  The 
walls  were  of  upright  timbers  and  the  roof  was  supported  principally 
by  four  wooden  pillars  rising  from  the  center  of  the  floor  space.  Back 
of  the  wall  and  roof  timbers  dry  grass  was  laid  and  over  that  an  outer 
covering  of  earth.  Low  sleeping  platforms  of  boards  were  built  along 
three  sides  of  the  house.  At  the  center  of  the  roof  was  the  smoke 
hole,  which  served  also  as  window  and  entrance.  The  house  was  en- 
tered by  means  of  a  log  into  which  were  cut  footholds  or  steps.  The 
women  and  children  (according  to  Steller,  only  the  small  children) 
were  accustomed  to  use  a  lower  entrance  opposite  the  fire  place,  the 
principal  purpose  of  which  was  to  serve  as  a  draft  channel  for  the  fire. 
On  comparing  the  Kamchadal  and  Koryak  houses  it  is  seen  that 
the  principal  difference  between  the  two  is  that  the  former  is  rectangu- 
lar in  floor  plan  with  low  sleeping  platforms  along  the  walls,  whereas 
the  latter  is  octagonal  with  a  single  low  platform  at  the  rear  and  inner 
skin  sleeping  tents  along  the  sides.  Both  were  entered  through  the 
roof  and  both  had  a  second  and  lower  entrance.  However,  in  the 
Koryak  house,  which  was  occupied  throughout  the  year,  the  lower 
entrance  was  the  regular  one  for  summer  use  by  men,  women,  and 
children  alike,  whereas  in  winter  when  its  outer  opening  was  closed, 
it  served  only  as  a  draught  passage  and  as  an  entrance  for  women  and 
children.  The  Kamchadal  house,  on  the  other  hand,  was  occupied  only 
during  the  winter,  and  the  lower  entrance  (which  was  also  a  draught 
channel)  was  never  used  by  the  men,  but  by  women  and  children  only. 
It  will  be  observed  that  those  features  which  distinguish  the  Kam- 
chadal house  from  that  of  the  Koryak   (rectangular  floor  plan,  low 
