340  SMITHSONIAN    MISCELLANEOUS    COLLECTIONS  VOL.    96 
one  long  runner  or  two  short  ones  were  used  to  a  side,  the  entire 
length  of  the  sledge  probably  not  exceeding  50  cm.  In  addition  to 
these  runners  there  were  also  heavy  ivory  shoes  (pi.  45,  figs.  4-9), 
but  their  exact  manner  of  attachment  is  unknown.  They  were  probably 
fastened  to  low  wooden  runners  of  a  sledge  not  unlike  the  type  just 
mentioned ;  the  wooden  runners  of  the  toy  sledge  shown  on  plate  59, 
figures  8,  9,  may  afford  a  clue  as  to  its  appearance.  In  the  Punuk  stage 
there  was  a  development  from  this  type  of  wide  heavy  shoe  into  a 
later  form  of  runucr,  a  transition  which  was  brought  about  when  the 
shoe  became  gradually  narrower  and  higher.  These  changes  in  the 
forms  of  sledge  runners  and  shoes  are  as  yet  of  only  local  significance 
since  there  is  no  evidence  that  such  a  range  of  forms  is  found  else- 
where. The  significant  fact,  for  the  present,  is  that  a  small,  low  sledge, 
with  heavy  ivory  runners,  or  shoe-ruilhers,  appears  to  have  been  the 
only  form  (except  the  baleen  toboggan)  known  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
Eskimos  until  quite  recently,  when  the  modern  built-up  type  of  sledge 
was  introduced  along  with  dog  traction.  The  thin,  narrow  bone  shoes, 
with  the  numerous  round  peg  holes,  which  were  used  on  the  latter  type 
of  sledge,  were  found  only  at  the  latest  of  the  five  Gambell  sites ; 
apparently  this  type  has  been  in  use  on  St.  Lawrence  Island  for  less 
than  200  years.  On  the  other  hand,  the  small,  low  sledge  has  been  in 
use  continuously  from  the  Old  Bering  Sea  period  to  the  present  time, 
and  it  was  no  doubt  used  then  as  now  mainly  as  an  adjunct  of  hunting, 
for  hauling  loads  of  meat  and  umiaks  over  the  ice  by  hand.  In  its 
essential  features,  this  sledge  is  related  to  the  simple  runner  sledge  of 
the  Central  Eskimos  which  Mathiassen,  Birket-Smith,  and  Hatt  regard 
as  the  earliest  developed  form  of  the  Eskimo  sledge.  In  the  Gambell 
excavations  we  now  have  proof  of  the  antiquity  of  this  type,  and  of 
the  toboggan,  among  the  Eskimos,  but  beyond  this  our  finds  con- 
tribute little  to  the  solution  of  the  problems  concerning  the  origin  and 
relationship  of  the  various  types  of  sledges  and  toboggans. 
Because  the  simple  runner  sledge  and  the  use  of  dog  traction  were 
originally  unknown  in  America  outside  of  the  Eskimo  area,  Hatt  is 
inclined  to  think  that  they  were  introduced  into  America  at  a  compara- 
tively late  period.  However,  now  that  the  archeological  finds  seem 
to  indicate  a  dissociation  of  the  two  elements,  the  question  appears  in 
a  somewhat  different  light.  For  the  small,  simple  runner  sledge  such 
as  described  above  might  well  be  a  very  ancient  type,  but  being  designed 
only  to  haul  loads  by  hand  over  the  sea  ice,  it  would  not,  in  that  par- 
ticular form,  have  been  useful  away  from  the  coasts  or  as  a  vehicle 
of  travel.  It  would  not  be  likely,  therefore,  to  spread  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  permanent  Eskimo  settlements  along  the  coasts.    Only  after 
