88 ANTHROPOLOGICAL SURVEY IN ALASKA [eth. ass. k 



About Nome 



Due to the delay with the Bear, the nest few days until July 23 

 were spent at and about Nome. They proved more profitable than 

 was expected. Numbers of interesting specimens were found in the 

 possession of some of the dealers, and more of those of scientific 

 value were secured either through gift or by purchase for the 

 National Museum. These collections consisted of objects of stone — 

 i. e., spear points, knives, axes, etc. — but above all of utensils, 

 spear points, effigies, etc., some of them of remarkable artistry and 

 decoration, were made of walrus ivory that through age has turned 

 "fossil." 



Among the stone objects were several axes made of the greenish, 

 hard nephrite which came from the " Jade Mountain " on the Kobuk 

 River. The objects from fossil ivory came principally from the St. 

 Lawrence Island, the Diomede Islands, Cape Wales, unknown parts 

 of the nearer Asiatic coast, and here and there from the Seward 

 Peninsula. 



A large majority of these objects are now collected by the natives 

 themselves, who assiduously excavate the old sites, and are sold at 

 so much per pound as " fossil ivory " to crews of visiting boats or to 

 merchants at Nome and elsewhere, to be worked up into beads, 

 pendants, and other objects of semijewelry that find ready sale 

 among the whites. 



In addition a certain part of these objects is reserved by the 

 natives, especially those of the Diomede Islands, and worked up by 

 themselves. The more striking the coloration of the ivory, the more 

 desirable it is for the beads, etc., and the less chance of the object, 

 regardless of its archeological or artistic value, to be preserved. 

 The most artistic pieces, nevertheless, are usually disposed of sepa- 

 rately, bringing higher prices than could be obtained for beads. 



In this way hundreds of pounds collectively of ancient imple- 

 ments, statuettes, etc., are recovered each year from the old sites on 

 both the Asiatic and the American side of the Bering Sea, and are 

 cut up, their scientific value being lost. Most of the fossil ivory, 

 fortunately, consists of objects which, though showing man's work- 

 manship, are of relatively little scientific value; nevertheless it was 

 seen repeatedly that specimens of real archeological value and artistic 

 interest would be destroyed if their color and texture made them suit- 

 able for some of the higher-priced jewelry. 



The Eskimo, as repeatedly found later, have not the slightest hesi- 

 tation about excavating the old sites, and whatever they can not 

 use, which as a rule includes animal and human bones, and in fact 

 everything else except stone tools and ivory, is left in the excavated 

 soil and lost. The amount of destruction thus accomplished by the 



