Page:Archæology of the Central Eskimos.djvu/392
they were found a little way from each other on the same platform. At the same place was found the other side prong for the same spear, slightly shorter, 29 cm, with only two holes, and the appurtenant barb, quite like the other, 11.3 cm long. 2 (P4. 680) is a side prong for a salmon spear with the barb in position; the side prong is of whalebone, slightly defective in both ends; at the lower end it is cut obliquely so that it may be lashed on to the shaft; at the top it has a cleft in which the barb is inserted; on the inner edge of the side prong is a number of long, deep sockets of varying sizes and in one of the smallest is a piece of flint which has been ground off so that it does not jut above the socket; the barb is of ivory, rather thin at the rear end, pierced with several holes through which lashings have led; the two outer holes, however, seem to be superfluous and apparently originate from an earlier employment; two notches on the back of the side prong are also for these lashings. Near to it was found the other side prong with barb for the same salmon spear; it is quite the same, 24 cm long, with a barb 8.5 cm long, which seems to have been made from a sinew twister (compare Pl. 69.7); in the broad end are two holes and a notch. This side prong only differs from the other in having the sockets on the outer edge, whereas the other has them on the inner edge. These sockets have no bearing whatever on the use of these specimens as salmon spears; this is clearly to be seen from the fact that on one they face inwards and on the other outwards; they must formerly have been used for some other purpose, and their nature suggests a whale-flensing knife with stone blades in the side like Boas 1907, fig. 178; a knife handle of this sort has been split and used for the side prongs of a salmon spear; a flint blade which has been too tightly inserted to be removed, has been ground down so that it would not be in the way.
There are three other barbs for salmon spears; two seem to be a pair; one is of ivory with two holes, the other of antler with 3 holes; on the whole they resemble Naujan Pl. 12.10 but are much thicker, rougher, 7.5 and 6.5 cm long respectively. The third is of antler, 8.0 cm long, without the bent-over neck and with a notch and a hole for the lashing.
Trout needles, for stringing the salmon caught, were found here to the number of 8; they are pointed pieces of bone with a hole in the butt end; the lengths vary from 23.5 to 12.8 cm. Pl. 71.1 (P4. 626) shows the largest and most handsome specimen, made of a thick leg bone; of the other specimens three are of caribou leg bones, one of bear fibula, one of whalebone, one of ivory and one of antler.
Three balls for bird bolas were found, and in addition one that is unfinished — there is no hole; these are heavy, rather irregular