NO.    I  ARCHEOLOGY    OF    ST.    LAWRENCE    LSLAND COLLINS  365 
what  Thule  features  does  the  Van  Vahn  material  inchide  that  are 
not  also  to  be  found  in  the  modern  Point  Barrow  culture  ?*  This  aspect 
of  the  problem  has  not  been  considered  by  Mathiassen,  nor  by  Mason, 
but  obviously  it  is  highly  important,  and  failure  to  observe  it  has  led 
to  a  certain  amount  of  confusion  and  to  a  one-sided  presentation  of 
the  problem.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  the  writer  has  pointed  out  (Col- 
lins, 1934,  pp.  310,  311),  II  of  the  13  Thule  elements  which  Mason 
lists  as  occurring  in  the  Van  Valin  collection  are  elements  which  also 
occur  in  the  modern  culture ;  furthermore,  most  of  them  are  also  to 
be  found  in  the  Old  Bering  Sea  culture  (the  exceptions  are  bola 
weights,  sealing  scratchers,  ivory  pendants) — in  other  words  they 
are  generalized  types  which  are  characteristic  of  all  culture  stages  in 
the  west,  and  consequently  are  of  value  only  as  indicating  a  relation- 
ship between  the  Thule  culture  and  Western  Eskimo  culture  in  general. 
There  are  still  many  features  of  the  prehistoric  Point  Barrow,  or 
Birnirk,  culture  concerning  which  we  have  no  information,  so  that  its 
exact  relationships  cannot  for  the  present  be  determined.  However, 
the  Birnirk  harpoon  heads  alone  are  sufficient  to  show  the  close  rela- 
tionship to  the  Old  Bering  Sea  culture.  It  is  true  that  Mason  has 
included  these  among  the  typical  Thule  forms  in  the  Van  Valin  col- 
lection, and  Mathiassen  has  done  likewise  when  he  refers  to  the  two 
harpoon  heads  excavated  by  Sverdrup  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kolyma 
River  in  Siberia  as  Thule  heads  (Mason,  1930,  pp.  386,  387;  Mathias- 
sen, 1927,  vol.  2,  p.  180;  1929,  p.  54).  This,  however,  is  clearly  not 
correct,  except  under  a  terminology  so  loose  as  to  be  almost  meaning- 
less ;  for  although  these  old  Alaskan  and  Siberian  heads  possess  the 
general  features  of  the  Thule  heads — a  "  thin  "  shape  and  an  open 
socket — they  possess  in  addition  the  specific  features  which  charac- 
terize the  Birnirk  type — asymmetrical  spurs  that  are  bifurcated,  tri- 
furcated,  or  otherwise  irregular  and  two  stone  side  blades  or  one  side 
blade  with  an  opposite  barb — features  that  remove  them  specifically 
from  the  Thule  heads  and  bring  them  into  direct  relationship  with 
those  of  the  Old  Bering  Sea  culture.  Relationship  with  the  Old  Bering 
Sea  culture  is  also  indicated  by  the  fact  that  Old  Bering  Sea  art  is 
found  at  the  old  Barrow  sites  (VVissler,  1916,  fig.  6;  Mason,  1930, 
pi.  5,  tig.  I  ;  Collins,  1935,  p.  463),  and  by  the  further  fact  that  the 
needle  cases  figured  by  Mason  (pi.  4,  figs.  6-8)  are  closer  to  the 
rather  variable  Old  Bering  Sea  and  Punuk  forms  than  to  the  stylized 
winged  form  of  the  Thule  culture,  which  differs  little  from  the  modern 
Central  form.  The  small  antler  scoop  or  ladle  figured  by  Mason  is 
also  an  Old  Bering  Sea  type  (pi.  47,  fig.  16),  and  as  pointed  out 
previously   (p.  324),  the  few  arrowheads  that  have  been  described 
