172 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 192 



this connection we should note that Lisiansky, in 1805, observed of 

 the Sitka Tlingit: 



The rich wrap themselves up sometimes in white blankets, manufactured in the 

 country, from the wool of the white sheep [read mountain goat], which is as soft 

 and fine as the Spanish merino. These blankets are embroidered with square 

 figures, and fringed with black and yellow tassels. Some of them are so curiously 

 worked on one side with the fur of the sea-otter, that they appear as if lined with 

 it, and are very handsome. [Lisiansky, 1814, p. 238.] 



This might be a good description of the type of blanket in question. 

 The Kodiak designs hint at a long frock of gutskin, with tufted 

 seams, or one patched together from small pelts, garments charac- 

 teristic of the Aleut and Pacific Eskimo in late prehistoric and early 

 historic times. It is impossible to guess at what type of costume 

 may have been intended by the Chugach designs, since the latter 

 are so completely styhzed. However, they seem to be more like 

 the patterns of baskets, textiles, or skin mosaic, than any of the 

 types of design usually incised by the Eskimo on ivory or bone. 



CARVED WOODEN SLAB 



A completely carbonized, carved wooden slab comes from Old 

 Town II (fig. 16, c). It is elhptical in outline, measuring 28.4 

 by 10.3 cm., and has a round hole through the wider end. One sur- 

 face is flat; the other is slightly convex in the middle, with a narrow 

 flange around the edge, and bears a carved decoration. The design 

 elements resemble somewhat the traditional eye motif of Northwest 

 Coast art. They may represent the suction disks on squid tentacles. 



The function of this unique specimen is unknown. It could have 

 been part of a song leader's dance paddle, or half of a snapper, a kind 

 of rattle made of two pieces of wood fastened together (see Niblack, 

 1890, pi. LViii, fig. 305, from the Hoonah Tlingit). 



HUMAN FIGURINES 



A broken, charred bone carving (fig. 20, a) from the fill of the 

 Storage House in Old Town II represents the head and shoulders of 

 a man, with round face, large eyes and mouth. There is a small 

 protrusion at the back, suggesting a knot of hair. The figurine is 

 broken off at the shoulders, and the edge of a hole can be seen in the 

 middle of the chest. The specimen is now (2.1) cm. long, 1.2 cm. 

 wide, and 1 cm. thick. The function is unknown, but it could have 

 been worn as an ornament or amulet. When complete it may have 

 been rather like the ivory figurine from the lower levels at Uyak 

 Bay, Kodiak Island (Heizer, 1956, pi. 82, p). 



A charred wood figiuine (fig. 22) was found on the floor of the 

 Storage House, beside a piece of chopped wood. The figurine is 



