78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 192 



Only in the test areas of Mound D were porpoise bones more numerous 

 than those of the seal. This may be explained because porpoise 

 vertebrae could be kept and counted, owing to their distinctive 

 character, whUe other parts of the animal do not seem to be pre- 

 served as well. Although there were remains of five or six seals in 

 this mound, there were four porpoises represented, and an equal num- 

 ber of mountain goats. The natives report that porpoise meat was 

 considered inferior to that of the seal since it produced an offensive 

 body odor, and it is said to have been eaten only by the families 

 of poor hunters. 



The mountain goat (Oreamnos kennedyi) was next in importance, 

 being represented by 32 bones from the test areas, possibly indi- 

 cating 13 individual animals. The Yakutat natives were ardent 

 goat hunters, and used the tallow not only for special feast dishes 

 but for cosmetic piu-poses. Had the site been on the mainland 

 farther up Yakutat Bay, we might have found more mountain goat 

 remains. 



The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is represented by only 11 bones, 

 indicating 4 to 7 individuals, and was not present at all in Mound 

 C. In former times the sea otter was common in Yakutat Bay, 

 although Khantaak Island, rather than Knight Island, was mentioned 

 as a center for sea otter hunting. It is clear that had there been 

 sufficient inducement the inhabitants of Old Town could have caught 

 far more sea otter than they did. Evidently they were not yet in- 

 fluenced by Eiu-opean demand for sea otter pelts. The scarcity 

 of sea otter bones at the late prehistoric site of Old Town is in great 

 contrast to their relative abundance at the early historic site of Daxat- 

 kanada in the Angoon area (de Laguna, 1960, p. 93). 



Other animals found at Old Town were the land otter, black bear, 

 beaver, hoary marmot, muskrat, "whale," and domestic dog, al- 

 though these were represented by relatively few bones. It is sur- 

 prising that the black bear was so uncommon and that the brown 

 (Kodiak) grizzly was not found at all, since both types are now 

 plentiful on the mainland near the island and the natives evidently 

 attached a good deal of importance to hunting these animals. The 

 difficulty of carrying bear meat weighted down with heavy bones, 

 together with magical rules about proper disposal of bear bones, 

 may explain why so few were found in the trash mounds. On the 

 other hand, it is astonishing to find any remains of the land otter, 

 since this animal was not pm-posely hunted and was in fact avoided 

 because of its imagined supernatural powers. 



Analysis of the seal bones which occurred in the site, as shown 

 in table 2, indicates that the entire carcass was brought to the village 

 for butchering. Blows on the skull in killing may explain the relative 



