59 



entrance is not more tlian four feet in height from rock to rock, and is on the 

 side opposite to the beach. It was originally walled up, and the upper border 

 was, when first examined, only a foot or two above the level of the outside 

 soil. We enlarged it by excavating to its full dimensions for convenience 

 in working and to light the interior. Disregarding the order of excavation, 

 it may be briefly stated that we found the floor of the cave to be an irreg- 

 ular concave bed of soft porphyritic rock, covered first by a layer of 

 organic mold, two feet in thickness iu its greatest depth, and inclosing skel- 

 etons and some stone implements. This layer I refer to the Fishing Period. 

 Above this was a layer, six or eight inches thick, of kitchen refuse, indicat- 

 ing that the cave had been used as a temporary camping-shelter by occa- 

 sional hunting-parties, rather than as a dwelling-place. This layer, evidently 

 of much later date, I refer to the early pai"t of the Hunting Period. Above 

 it Avas a layer of beach-worn shingle, apparently deposited by water. Then 

 came another layer, from 18 to 20 inches thick, of fine organic mold, con- 

 taining many implements and human remains, apparently referable to the 

 period extending from the later part of the Hunting Period to the time 

 immediately preceding the discovery of the islands by civilized people. 

 Probably during this later period, while used as a burial-place, the roof of 

 the cave had received a coat of red ochre or clayey ore of iron, and, per- 

 haps to avoid desecration by the Russians, the door had been walled up 

 with stones, in which condition it remained until a few j'ears before the 

 time of our investigations. The details of each layer will be mentioned 

 under the period to which I have referred them. I will only remark here 

 that no evidences of civilized influence of any kind were discoverable in 

 any of the articles found in the cave, and it unquestionably in its latest 

 contents antedates the Russian occupation of the islands. 



The invention or introduction of the seine, judging by the remains 

 found, worked a revolution in the economy of these savages. Fish, when 

 raw, is a substance which cannot be conveniently dismembered by teeth 

 and nails Tlie use of sharp chips of stone as knives, doubtless of great 

 antiquity, was soon superseded by the introduction of much more artistic 

 implements of rhomboid or semi-lunar form. These at first had mei-ely the 

 edges ground histead of chipped; but later the entire surface was ground 



