98 THE POINT BARROW ESKIMO. 
is impossible to be sure about it), and is rough and somewhat knobby, 
with a rounded knob on the butt and two shallow finger notches on the 
under side of the grip. It is attached by a lashing of stout thong of the 
ordinary pattern. Fig. 30, No. 89849 [1047]: The head is a straight 
four-sided block of whale’s rib, 6 inches long. The deep notches for the 
lashing, one on each side, are 1 inch behind the middle. The haft is a 
Fig. 31.—Bone maul. 
roughly whittled knotty piece of spruce, and instead of a knob has a 
thick flange on the lower side of the butt. The lashing is of fourteen or 
fifteen turns of seal twine, and keyed upon each side by a roughly split 
stick thrust in under the head. Tig.31, No. 89846 [1048]: This is pecul- 
iar in having the haft not attached at or near the middle of the head, 
but at one end, which is shouldered to receive it. The haft is of the com- 
mon pattern and attached as usual, the lashing being made of very stout 
Fig. 32.—Bone maul. 
sinew braid. The head is a section of a small rib 6 inches long. Fig. 32, 
No. 89845 [1049]: This is made in one piece, and roughly carved with 
broad cuts from a piece of whale’s jaw. The grooves and holes in the 
bone are the natural canals of blood vessels. All these mauls are bat- 
tered on the striking face, showing that they have been used. 
At the first glance it seems as if we had here a series illustrating the 
development of the stone hammer. Fig. 32 would be the first form, while 
