de Laguna] ARCHEOLOGY, YAKUT AT BAY AREA, ALASKA 99 



RUBBING TOOLS 



In addition to the small tools used for cutting, there are three from 

 Old Town III which were apparently used for rubbing (pi. 10, a, h). 

 These are amorphous pebbles of limestone, slate, and greenstone, 

 6.4 to 11.6 cm. long, rubbed at the ends as if they had been used for 

 polishing grooves or carved surfaces. 



These three specimens are not unlike the numerous rubbing tools 

 from the early historic Tlingit site of Daxatkanada near Angoon 

 (de Laguna, 1960, pp. 106-108, pi. 7, a-o). The latter exhibit a 

 range of shapes comparable to those of the Yakutat cutting tools, 

 although they were evidently used more for rubbing or grinding than 

 for gouging, chopping, or cutting. Most are rubbed flat on one side, 

 a feature absent from the Yakutat rubbing tools. Eight "polishing 

 tools" of hard rock, from Uyak Bay, Kodiak, appear to be somewhat 

 similar (Heizer, 1956, p. 47, pi. 35, t, u). 



BONE BURINS AND CHISELS 



Bone also seems to have been used to make woodworking tools. 

 Thus, we have four pieces of heavy bone (mammal leg bone?) shaped 

 like burins for gouging grooves (pi. 16, d, e, f). Three are from 

 Old Town III, and one from an unknown level in Mound B. In addi- 

 tion, there is a smaller, more slender bone tool (pi. 16, Z), unfortunately 

 broken, from Old Town II. These are very similar to some of the 

 small slate tools described above. 



Another broken bone implement from Old Town III and two from 

 Old Town II may have been used as chisels. 



KNIVES, SCRAPERS, AND CHOPPERS 



The natives at Yakutat distinguish between several kinds of laiives 

 and scrapers. These include the ulo, a similar but smaller knife or 

 scraper with cupped blade, a straight-edged man's knife, a crooked 

 knife for carving, a large dagger, a two-handed beaming tool (now an 

 ordinary butcher's knife with the point wrapped in cloth to make 

 a second grip), and a long-handled flesher. AU these are now made of 

 iron or steel, or have iron blades, except for some beaming tools of 

 deer leg bone with sharpened edge. Presumably the bones of some 

 other animal were used before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service im- 

 ported deer from southeastern Alaska. 



Ulos are stiU used by the older Yakutat women for flensing seals, 

 and, with dulled blades, as scrapers for cleaning sealskins. A typical 

 modern example had an iron blade 12.8 cm. long and something over 



