Page:Archæology of the Central Eskimos.djvu/477

not wider at the hole, which is 2–7 cm from the end; only one has indications of notches below the hole; the baleen ring is absent and the other end is broken on these specimens, one of which is 67 cm. long. In Comer's collection, too, there are specimens which apparently are of this type (Wissler fig. 28), of the use of which we have no idea.

Five long and one smaller baleen strips are widened at one end but have no hole; a narrow, thin strip of baleen, formed by laying two together, is 85 cm long, 1.8 cm wide; another is 96 cm long, 3 cm wide; whether these specimens belong to the foregoing type cannot be definitely determined.

Pl. 79.7 (L 7654) is a narrow but thick strip; at one end it has a sharply defined head, whilst the other end is slightly pointed with two holes. Another specimen (Pl. 79.8. L 7713) has a similar head which is sharply bent over; the other end tapers gradually. These specimens may be toy bows.

There is still a number of cut baleen pieces of uncertain use. Pl. 79.6 (L 7714) is a narrow strip, with small holes in the ends and two pairs of notches at the middle; another similar piece has a notch at one end and, just inside this, a hole; the other end is broken. A rather thick piece 22 cm long, up to 3 cm wide, is rounded at one end, where there is a large hole; in the other end, which is formed like a head, a smaller hole, and there are three others on the middle line. A small, oval disc of baleen, 4.7 × 3.6 cm, has a hole near the edge.

A large number of baleen strips have knots, of which Pl. 81 shows various types: 4 (L 7667) is a running noose, rather loose; 3 (L 7664) is a noose formed by a turn of the end of the bent-over strip; 5, 6 and 7 (all L 7674) are knots with 4 ends; 1 (L 7731) is a noose formed by a more complicated knot; 2 (L 7663) is a baleen thread wound with another thread. These are knots which are partly known from the Central Eskimo finds and partly from West Greenland.^[1] A cord 14 cm long is formed by plaiting three baleen cords together (layer C).

In layer D there were also found numbers of pieces of wood, mostly small sticks, many of which are charred; no metal, glass beads or other objects indicating contact with Europeans were found.

The cultural position of Comer's Midden has already been discussed by Wissler on the basis of the collection in New York. Wissler refers to the close relationship of the find to the older finds from Southampton Island on the one hand and to the North-east Green-