492 W. Thalbitzer 



of this word? In Greenland the root sawik is found in many 

 names of places where iron occurs, e. g. Ross' Sowalik^), which is 

 undoubtedly the same as sawilik 'containing iron.' K. I. V. Steenstrup 

 is even of opinion, that we might use these Greenland names (Sawik, 

 Sawiorqat etc.) as indications of the places where natural iron is to 

 be found on this coast ^). It might thus seem, as if the material 

 was the basal significance of this word — in fact iron, and not cop- 

 per or brass, which is called kannussak, kaijijussak, Labrador kan- 

 nujak'^). Sawik, it seems, thus first signifies iron, then a knife with 

 iron blade. 



In addition to these two metals, the Eskimo have a name for 

 lead or tin, aqerioq 'soft (metal),' but they have no name for metal 

 in general. 



OLD-FASHIONED STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



This chapter deals with weapon points, blades of knives, scrap- 

 ers, borers and hammers made of stone, found in the possession of 

 the natives or by the natives themselves in old refuse heaps outside 

 the houses. Some of these implements are used for men's, some 

 for women's work, and this is the reason why the present chapter 

 is inserted between those dealing with the tools of men and of 

 women. 



When G. Holm returned from Ammassalik in 1885 he brought 

 with him a small number of stone objects, most of them knife 

 blades and weapon heads, obsolete implements from the recently 

 ended stone age of the population here. And, who knows, even then 

 perhaps an old-fashioned stone blade or hammer-stone may have been 

 used here and there, when conditions required. Holm's description 

 of these is found in this volume p. 40. Some of the figures in his 

 previous paper*) are reproduced here, namely, the stone objects I 



') Parry (1824) also gives the Avord from the Central Eskimo regions in this form 

 sowik; cf. the derivative soweakpoqe 'he cuts.' 



■-) K. I. V. Steenstrup (1882) pp. 122—123. — This is correct in general; yet the 

 name may have been given to a place for other reasons than the occurrence of 

 iron, e. g. from the resemblance in the form of an island or cliff to a knife. 



•') Parry (1824) gives the following designations of metals from Winter Island and 

 Iglulik: kanooyak 'copper;" kakohlek qaqiiwi.ek'l] 'brass' properly 'white metal' (?) 

 ukillerook 'lead (metal)' = Greenland aqeri.oq; kalloogniik 'iron-stone;' imroot 

 'silver, tin.' 



•») "Meddelelser om dronhind' Vol. X. 



