Ethnographical collections from East Greenland. 621 



very seldom, because on the whole there has been no frequent use 

 of engraved ornaments. I have found it on a beautifully orna- 

 mented swivel and on some old-time needle-cases from central West 

 Greenland (Pfaff's coll.). It is also seen on the edging of the ivory 

 comb found by Amdrup further north in East Greenland ^). In the 

 Ammassalik district itself this engraving pattern has not been ob- 

 served and thus seems to be absent there; perhaps due to chance? 

 The number of ivory objects from this place found in the collections 

 is not overwhelming, and there are only few of the kind on which 

 we might expect to find ornamental carving (combs, buckles, trinket- 

 boxes etc.); as already noted, old-time needle-cases are not at all 

 found near Ammassalik. 



The other pattern, on the other hand, I think I am able to 

 detect on a specimen in Holm's collection from Ammassalik, namely, 

 the small ornamented snuff-box of ivory shown in fig. 287 a (cf. p. 558). 

 On this we see distinctly that between the lines of black dots which 

 cover the surface there is an encircling wreath of connected Y-shaped 



markings in this style: jJ\X}}J<. • This is the only indication hitherto 

 found in Greenland that this Eskimo pattern has been known there. 



But besides these two patterns there is a third engraving design 

 in ivory which seems to me to be characteristic of the Eskimo and 

 common among the Central Eskimo near Hudson Bay, namely, the 

 dot ornamentation. We find it in East Greenland partly as engrav- 

 ings on ivory objects, partly as tattoo markings on certain parts of 

 the human body (pp. 122 and 608 — 609). (I am inclined to assume 

 that the significance of this ornamentation is the same in both cases). 

 On the ivory objects the dots are generally made by boring small 

 holes in the surface which are then filled with soot or blood or 

 some other dark dye-stuff, on the wooden objects by the inlaying 

 (mosaic) of quite small circular pieces of ivory (figs. 181c? and 372d); 

 the dots are always arranged regularly, most often in parallel lines. 



The dot ornamentation is used on the following objects illustrated in 

 this book: on the haft of several men's knives of the pana-type (figs. 42—43, 

 181a, c,d, 204 a), also on the bone haft of the pana knife in fig. 181 rf, on some 

 drag-handles used for dragging the dead seals after the kaiak (fig. 162&, c), 

 the end-knobs of a drill-bow (fig. 191/"), the haft of a woman's knife (fig. 223c) 

 and a couple of bodkins (figs. 230 and 236), on several sinew thread twisters 

 (figs. 239 and 246), on rings and hooks of ivory (figs. 240 a and 242 c), a comb 

 (fig. 331), a thimble guard (fig. 250c), sniÆ-horns (fig. 287a and d) and on the 

 carved seals and a whale in fig. 374. Much further north on the east coast 

 near Cape Franklin Nathorst (Hammar) found in a women's grave an ivory 

 buckle ornamented with a row of black dots-). 



*) These objects are illustrated in my description (1909) pp. 469, 472 and 527. 

 2) Nathorst (1900) vol. 2, p. 364; Stolpe (1906) PI. 6, fig. 19. 



