de Lngunn] ARCHEOLOGY, YAKUT AT BAY AREA, ALASKA 129 



"slender rods of ground slate, usually hexagonal or octagonal in form" 

 (ibid., p. 57), or those that are oval or circular in section and have 

 been described as slate "awls." No sharp distinction can be drawn 

 between these forms which appear to be variants of one fundamental 

 type. 



Even though the Yakutat specimens are either broken or unfinished, 

 we can see their similarity to the numerous Chugach points. The 

 latter range from 7 to 27 cm. in length, and appear to have been a 

 specialized type of weapon point, intended to snap off in the wound, 

 and probably used in hunting sea mammals. The smallest may have 

 been for arrows. They are more common in the earlier than in the 

 later prehistoric period (de Laguna, 1956, pp. 159 ff.). They are not 

 numerous on Kachemak Bay, although the forms are similar; they 

 appear only in Periods sub-Ill and III. Slate blades like pencils, 

 mostly cylindrical in shape and ranging in length from 8 to 14.5 cm., 

 are common on Kodiak, especially in the lower levels (Heizer, 1956, 

 pi. 47, a-c, h-j, also types IX and X, pp. 49 f.). The modern Kodiak 

 blades for whaling lances are very like long slender bayonets, from 

 13.3 to 41.2 cm. long. Presumably archeological whaling lances 

 had similar points, and Heizer suggests that the smallest slate speci- 

 mens were arrowheads. 



"Slate pencils" have been recorded from the Haida, Tsimshian, 

 Bella Coola, and Gulf of Georgia areas, including Marpole (Eburne) 

 on the Eraser Delta (Drucker, 1943, p. 122), while the heavier "bayo- 

 net" points appear in archeological collections from the Tlingit and 

 Coast Salish areas, for example, among the nmnerous slate types at 

 Whalen Farm II (Borden, 1950, p. 1 6) . Similar slender faceted points, 

 but made of bone, are found at Cattle Point (King, 1950, fig. 13, 18, 

 19). In most of these areas where such slate points are found, 

 analogous forms also occm- in bone. 



BARBED SLATE BLADE 



The butt end of a slate point with tang and small barbs (fig. 14, i) 

 was found in the bottom of the midden at Diyaguna'Et. The barbs 



Figure 14. — Ground slate blades for weapons or knives. Drawn by Donald F. McGeeln. 

 a. Small blade for arrow or knife, associated with basketry fragments, from just above 

 floor of Storage House, Old Town II (No. 144); b, fragment of large double-edged blade for 

 lance or knife, from Subsurface Pit 38 and Mound B, lower levels, Old Town II (No, 

 369/430); c, fragment of large double-edged blade for lance or knife, from Mound B, upper 

 levels. Old Town III (No. 544); d, blade for arrow, from Mound B, level unknown. Old 

 Town II or III (No. 7); e, blade for arrow, from Mound B, upper levels. Old Town III 

 (No. 149);/, unfinished blade, sawed slate, from Mound D, upper levels. Old Town I 

 (No. 881); g, blade for arrow, from fill of House Pit 7, Old Town I (No. 770/776); 

 h, butt end of blade for lance (?), from Mound D, Old Town I (No. 916); i, butt end of 

 barbed slate weapon blade, from Diyaguna'Et (49-25-107). 



