554 



W. Thalbitzer 



berries, herbs etc. (qoojuit); qeetsiarpik dish (of pertaq type for the 

 same use); ilaliaainnaq meat dish or plate (flat and round, made of 

 wood all in one piece). 



Vessels, dishes and spoons in general. — While most of the 

 household utensils from Ammassalik described here are typical of 

 the Eskimo culture in the far west even as far as to the Bering 

 Straits, this does not apply to the water and urine-tubs made of 

 wooden staves, which are so very characteristic of the Ammas- 

 salikers. It is only at Ammassalik that we find these stave-vessels, 



generali}^ very neatly 

 and solidly made, al- 

 most superior to the 

 tubs obtained from the 

 Danes which the West 

 Greenlanders keep in 

 their houses for the 

 same use; the Ammas- 

 salik tubs excel these 

 in having the upper 

 rims inlaid with ivory 

 strips and frequently 

 relief ornamentation on 

 the sides. In earlier 

 days the southern West 

 Greenlanders have also 

 used similar vessels and 

 tubs^). Wooden nails 

 are used oftener than 

 bone nails. Also the 

 solid way in which the 

 bottom is mortised in the sides in these vessels is typical of the 

 Ammassalikers, as also the firmly inserted wooden handle across the 

 mouth of the water-tubs (in the pertaq-iyi^e of the West Eskimo a 

 skin-handle fastened over the rim corresponds to this). The sucking- 

 pipes belonging to some of the water-tubs are only known Avliere 

 the Ammassalik culture prevails. — It is probable that the stave- 

 vessels from Ammassalik originate from European influence coming 

 along the trade route southwards round Cape Farewell. How far 

 back we may trace this type of vessel in Greenland is uncertain, 

 but it is astonishing to see that these have had such a wide distribu- 



Cm. 

 Fig. 284. Urine tub from Nualik. (Amdrup coll.). 



'j Cranz I177ÜI p. 1!)1; Glahn ^1771j pp.208, 212. 



