372 



(illustrated in Mason ^)) which is inserted in the end of the 

 shaft and wrapped round with sinew, must be regarded as a 

 coincidence. 



On the other hand, the resemblance of these heads to the 

 firmly secured bone heads at the end of whaling-harpoons of 

 the type known from Alaska and from Baffin Land, is unmis- 

 takable. But a remarkable point about them is their small size, 

 which might lead one to suppose that they were only used as 

 toys, or as models for boys to practise with. 



Murdoch ^j describes a foreshaft of a whaling harpoon from 

 Alaska in the following terms: "Is of walrus-ivory and 15"8 inches 

 long, with a diameter of 1^/2 inches at the butt. The oblong slot 

 at the beginning of the chamfer is to receive the end of the lashing 

 which secured this to the shaft." Boas^) gives the following brief 

 description: "To this wooden shaft a bone point tapering towards 

 the end is firmly attached." The illustration shows it to be cylin- 

 drical. It seems to me by no means improbable that the two nar- 

 whal tusk heads found by the German Expedition and by Nathorst 

 (Hammar) in North East Greenland and mentioned by me under the 

 heading of inv. Amd. 11, must have had the same function, namely 

 of being fore-pieces for whaling harpoons. — 



Inv. Amd. 20 is the only one of the three-fold set of 

 bone points fixed back of the centre of the shaft of a bird- 

 dart, each in its plane around it, intended to catch the bird, 

 when the point of the spear has eluded it — an ingenious 

 contrivance which is found, executed in much the same manner, 

 in all Eskimo districts. It is cut out of the side of a non- 

 descript bone, greyish-white and spongy, especially on the flat 

 under side, the upper side being slightly convex. The tip of 

 the point is sharp, and the inner edge of it is cut particularly 

 sharp round the two barbs. 



Several quite similar points have been discovered in North 



1) Mason II, PI. 53, fig. 1. 



2) Murdoch I, 239, fig. 237. 

 9) Boas I, 500, fig. 436. 



