588 



W. Thalbitzer 



an old pattern. The upper main part is made out of one piece 

 like a helmet. The two richly ornamented corner pieces have been 

 sewn on later as shown by the seams on the inner side; they are 

 sewn on no doubt in order that the edges of the lower flaps may 

 lie quite close to the breast and back of the wearer, the lower open- 

 ing naturally enclosing the neck, the upper the face. Petersen's 



Fig. 313. Piaarqusiaq hood or skin iielmet to guard the wearer 

 against evil spirits. (Amdrup coll.). 



collection contains a similar hood, the use and meaning of which 

 are known; and when I showed the specimen from the Amdrup 

 collection to Johan Petersen he was sure at once that it was of the 

 same kind. 



It is a so-called piaarqusiaq-hood used to protect a child whose 

 sisters and brothers have died as infants or babies. In order to 

 prevent the last-born child from dying like the others, the mother 

 gives it this or some other special garment as a kind of amulet to 



