356 



GENERAL REMARKS ON THE HARPOON HEADS. The 



eight intact heads which were found turn out to belong to entirely 

 different types. Nos. 1 and 3 were found at Cape Tobin. Nos. 

 4 to 10 were found on the southernmost of the places, viz., in 

 Skaergaardshalvö. They all diverge from the type most in use 

 at Ammassalik. In most of them the height of the body is 

 greater than the breadth. The interior of the line-holes is in 

 most of them straight and laterally situated (i. e. they debouch 

 on the sides of the head), whereas the harpoon heads which 

 the Ammassalimmiut now employ have curved line-holes, the 

 openings of which lie on the under side of the body. 



Inv. Amd. 4 occupies a place by itself, having two line- 

 holes which have been bored vertically in the median line of 

 the head from the upper to the lower side at right angles to 

 the plane of the blade; this arrangement reminds one very much 

 of the orsseq, an oblong ivory button with two holes for fastening 

 the dog traces to the sledge (cf. Inv. Amd. 102). 



It is also worthy of remark that the basal barb in two of 

 these heads is quite undivided, and in two others has only a small 

 notch, whereas the heads which are typical of Ammassalik have 

 two-forked bases, or two barbs flanking the base and shaft 

 socket; inv. Amd. 1 and 3 have also forked bases, but the two 

 barbs both lie in the plane of the upper side. 



None of the harpoon heads of the Amdrup collection have 

 lateral barbs towards the point. 



Most of these types of harpoon heads from North East 

 Greenland are also known from West Greenland. The West 

 Greenland types have been described by Mason and more re- 

 cently by Swenander. The latter has classified them in the 

 plates and in the text in the manner that the presumably oldest 

 types are placed first, the more recent and more dift'erentiated 

 last. Among the harpoon heads of the Amdrup collection, Nos. 

 1, 2 and 5 resemble the oldest type in Swenander, in so far as 

 they consist of an entire piece of bone (without inserted blade) 



