397 



is well known from Alaska. But the nail found by Amdrup 

 is so well adapted for piercing with, that it must, no doubt, 

 have been used as an awl for piercing holes for stitches in 

 skinM. 



It is worth noticing that the Eskimo at Ammassalik use a 

 similar kind of implement (a 'bone plug') for closing up the 

 wound of the seal they have killed^). 



Inv. Amd. 32 (Fig. 20). This needle is remarkable for its 

 short, broad, and flat form; it is only 7*5 cm long and 1 cm 

 broad in the middle. The ring-shaped head, which is now 

 highly weathered, must originally have measured circa Г8 cm 

 in diameter. The needle from the middle tapers off towards 

 both ends; at the pointed tip, moreover, it is quite thin, so 

 that the edges both at the broad end and some distance up 

 along the sides are sharp. 



The implement does not seem to be adapted for piercing 

 hard material or hides. The broad tip renders it more probable 

 that it was used for making folds in skin (e. g. at the edge of 

 the large upward-turned kamik soles which are well known 

 further southwards along the East coast), or have been used 

 in some way in women's needlework, though not directly as 

 a needle. 



It resembles some of the boot-sole creasers described 

 by Nelson^). 



Inv. Amd. 33 to 44 (Fig. 18). There were found, in all, 

 12 entire bodkins of this type and 1 fragment in Skærgaards- 



a bow to raise parts of the cord when an end is to be passed under, 

 and In tucking in the ends in finishing off a whipping ". 



') Nelson PI. 46, figs. 13—16 (bodiiins with knob-like heads without eye). 

 — Two bodkins of a similar kind are found in the Amundsen collection 

 (the Gjôa Expedition) at Christiania, N0.15711, length 127 cm. quite 

 pointed, without eye; and iNo. 157Г2, length 99 cm, with a blunt point 

 and an eye (to receive a cord loop for hanging up). 



») Holm PI. 1.:.. 



^) NeUon 108 and PI. 44, fig. 50. 

 XXVIII 26 



