136 ANTHROPOLOGICAL, SURVEY IN ALASKA [eth.ann.46 



Russian beads, especially those of the large blue variety, are oc- 

 casionally encountered, usually singly or in small numbers, especially 

 in some spots. 



A unique archeological specimen from the lower middle portion 

 of the Yukon Valley is the large stone dish obtained by Mr. Miiller, 

 the trader at Kaltag. (See p. 34.) 



Besides these random specimens, other cultural objects are found 

 along the Yukon in connection with old burials. These consist of 

 an occasional wooden dish, sharpening or polishing stones, rarely a 

 figurine (doll?) in ivory, Russian snuffboxes, fire sticks, dishes of 

 birch bark, etc. The cullings in this field are quite poor, but there 

 has been no excavation of older burials that have been assimilated by 

 the tundra and lie now in the earth beneath. 



The archeology of the old habitation sites, on the other hand, 

 particularly perhaps on the Shageluk and between Holy Cross and 

 Marshall, is decidedly promising and invites careful excavation. 



Location of Villages and Sites on the Yukon 



Especial attention was given to the location of the numerous dead 

 villages and older sites along the Yukon. This task was found, in 

 mast instances, fairly easy with villages that " died " since the 

 Russo-American occupation, for mostly they still show plain traces 

 and are generally remembered by the old Indians or even old white 

 settlers. Their precise allocation on a map, however, is not always 

 easy or certain. As to the prehistoric sites the search is much more 

 difficult and depends largely on chance discoveries. 



The villages still existing give only a partial clue, in many cases, 

 to the old, even where these bore the same name, for on occasions a 

 village changed its location, though remaining in the same general 

 vicinity and retaining the same name. Thus there existed at differ- 

 ent times apparently, between the earliest contacts with whites and 

 the present, at least l' Xuklukhayets, 2 Lowdens. :>> Nulatos, 3 Kaltags, 

 2 Anviks, etc.; besides which there were differences in recording the 

 names and changes due to efforts at translation of the native term, 

 or an application by the whites of a new name, often that of a trader 

 or settler, to an old site. 



In places even late village sites, in others burials, were witnessed 

 being undermined by the river or the sea. Such sites with their con- 

 tents will probably sooner or later be completely lost from this 

 cause. Many doubtless have thus been lost previously. 



The villages and sites located along the Yukon are here enumer- 

 ated and as far as possible charted. Information about them was 

 obtained from the older Indians or river Eskimo and from such 

 whites as had direct knowledge in that line. Most of these sites were 



