NO.    I  ARCHEOLOGY    OF    ST.    LAWRENCE    ISLAND — COLLINS  293 
of  which  remains  to  be  determined,  is  the  prevalent  eye  motive.  The 
Old  Bering  Sea  "  eye  "  is  a  geometric  element — a  concentric,  and  usu- 
ally nucleated  circle  or  ellipse  surmounting  a  slight  elevation,  to  which 
is  added  a  second  geometric  element,  a  simple  spur.  The  Northwest 
Coast  eye  is  flat  and  is  formed  of  a  continuous  line  enclosing  a  solid 
figure.  These  differences  in  manner  of  production  alone  need  not 
preclude  a  common  origin  for  the  two  designs,  since  we  have  no 
knowledge  as  to  what  may  have  preceded  the  modern  form  on  the 
Northwest  Coast.  It  is  by  no  means  improbable  that  future  archeo- 
logical  investigations  there  may  reveal  an  earlier  style  of  art  closer 
to  that  of  the  Old  Bering  Sea.  In  the  absence  of  such  information, 
all  we  can  say  is  that  modern  Northwest  Coast  art  is  so  highly  de- 
veloped, so  obviously  localized  and  specialized  that  its  ultimate  origin 
cannot  at  present  be  determined. 
Our  comparison  of  old  Eskimo  art  with  that  found  in  contiguous 
areas  in  America  has  revealed  a  number  of  resemblances  between  in- 
dividual design  elements  but  nothing  closely  resembling  either  Old 
Bering  Sea  or  Punuk  composition.  Dorset  art  represents  a  fairly 
close  approach  to  some  of  the  simpler  examples  of  Old  Bering  Sea 
style  I,  but  this  very  simplicity  renders  an  explanation  of  genetic 
relationship  uncertain.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  good  reason  for 
believing  that  this  simple  and  presumably  very  early  stage  of  Old 
Bering  Sea  art,  based  primarily  on  the  use  of  straight  or  slightly  curv- 
ing lines  and  spurs,  is  the  prototype  of  the  northern  style  of  modern 
Eskimo  art  in  which  the  spurred  line  plays  so  important  a  role.  The 
stiff,  conventional  appearance  of  the  modern  spurred  line,  particularly 
of  the  double  line  with  alternating  spurs,  is  that  of  an  old  and  formal 
design  which  has  become  fixed  and  stereotyped  through  centuries  of 
traditional  use  (see  de  Laguna,  below,  on  this  point)  ;  when,  there- 
fore, we  find  a  prehistoric  art  style  in  the  same  region  employing  the 
same  elements  but  in  more  variable  form,  it  would  seem  entirely 
logical  to  regard  it  as  ancestral. 
Turning  now  to  the  Old  World,  we  find  the  regular  Eskimo  form 
of  the  spurred  line  or  the  double  line  with  rows  of  alternating  spurs 
among  the  Chukchee  (Bogoras,  1904-09,  vol.  2,  fig.  73)  ;  Koryak 
(Jochelson,  1905-08,  vol.  2,  fig.  191,  a,  h)  ;  Yukaghir  (Jochelson,  1910- 
26,  p.  452,  fig.  157)  ;  Gilyak  (Karutz,  1925,  p.  33,  fig.  11,  23)  ;  Tungus 
and  Yakut  (Karutz,  1925,  p.  43,  fig.  12;  p.  75,  fig.  24)  ;  and  Lapps 
(Holmquist,  1935,  fig.  i).  Here,  however,  these  designs,  although 
frequently  employed,  do  not  occupy  the  important  place  they  do  in 
Eskimo  art,  but  are  overshadowed  by  the  more  developed  angular 
style  that  in  one  form  or  another  is  widely  spread  throughout  northern 
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