Page:Archæology of the Central Eskimos.djvu/497

to have had a hand-grip, as if the object had been used as a snow knife or the like.

Kayak paddle. Pl. 83.4 (P 12.125) is a toy kayak paddle of wood much decayed, the only evidence that the Thule culture has been familiar with two-bladed kayak paddles.

Snow knives. Pl. 83.9 (P 12.61) is a small snow knife of the familiar type with two shoulders and unilateral knob on the handle end; the material, antler, makes it smaller, narrower and lighter than these snow knives usually are.

Knife handles. 1. Long knife handles with end blade; for grasping with both hands; flensing knives. Pl. 83.2 (P 12. 4) is the fore end of such a knife handle, lengthened at the back end by jointing; in the fore end is a blade socket, 4 cm deep, 3 cm long; a rivet hole passes through the blade socket, while on the sides short, oblong sockets for side blades lead into the big socket. Another knife handle is of a rather thin, curved branch of antler, 23 cm long, thickened at the rear end, a deep, fairly broad blade slit in the fore end. Finally, an unfinished handle is 30 cm long, about 2½ cm wide, oval in section; the rear end is widened out into an irregular disc, whilst the blade-socket has not yet been cut.

2. Shorter, with end blade and suspension hole. Five specimens. Pl. 83.8 (P 12.53 a) is a knife handle, exactly like the predominant type at Naujan: flat, rather curved, a blade socket in the fore end (to which an oblong rivet socket leads from one side), in the rear end a large, triangular cutting from which a hole for suspension leads to the end face; at the bottom of the blade socket is a piece of blueish slate. The other specimens of this type have lengths varying from 16 to 18½ cm. The longest of these is round, slightly curved, with unilateral knob at the handle end and a very short but deep blade socket. One has the suspension hole bored from the side to the end face like most of the knife handles from Naujan, the others from side to side. Two have had blade sockets and lashings round these; the third has a blade slit and rivet hole.

3. With blade socket in the side near the fore end. Pl. 83.10 (P 12. 166) is roughly shaped, rather curved, with a small blade socket, made by drilling, in one edge near the point. On a smaller, rather roughly shaped similar specimen the blade socket is only 1 cm long. A third, more carefully made knife handle of this type, 20 cm long, with broken fore end, has an oblong suspension hole cut transversally, the lower part of the handle covered with cross notches, and two blade sockets in one edge, one of them only 1 cm long, the other longer, but broken.