THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY ‘ * 913.738 Hammers, sinkers, paint-grinders, and other implements of stone. About two-fifths natural size . 66 18. Stone lamps. About two-sevenths natural size. 72 19. 1, 2, stone lamps; 3, bowl made from a whale’s vertebra; 4, stone on which paints were ground, a grinder, and pieces of ocher. About one-fourth natural size. 74 20. 1, 2, s, and 7, bone lamps; 3, 4, 8, and 9, stone lamps; 10, bone mortar for grinding tobacco. About two-sevenths natural size . 76 21. 1, stone lamp in process of manufacturing; 2, stone frying-pan . 76 22. Bone harpoon-heads, knife-hafts, adze-handles, scrapers, flakers, and other bone imple¬ ments. About two-fifths natural size... 78 23. Bone heads of war and hunting darts and PAGE foreshafts of harpoons. About two- fifths natural size. 80 24. Bone points for throwing-implements, bird darts, small harpoons, and sections of other bone implements. About two- fifths natural size. 84 25. Bone points for throwing-implements, fore¬ shafts of bow-arrows, sections of fish¬ hooks, and other bone implements. About two-fifths natural size. 86 26. Bone spoons, wedges, root-diggers, and other bone implements. About two-sevenths natural size . 88 27. 1, Bone wedges, drill-heads, and a bone adze, about one-third natural size; 2, bone awls and a knife, about three-fifths natural size; 3, bone harpoon heads. About one-half natural size. 90 28. A, bone awls and chisels, about one-half natural size; B, bone awls and needles, about three-fifths natural size; C, bone awls. About one-half natural size. 92 TEXT-FIGURES. PAGE 1. Map of Attu Island. 24 2. Map of Atka Island. 27 3. Map of Umnak Island. 30 4. Map of Amaknax Island. 37 5. a. An old Aleut woman resting; b, A young Aleut woman weaving a basket. 45 6. A vertical section of burial cave C, Atka Island . 49 7. Sections of a simple harpoon. 55 8. a to c, sections of a toggle-headed harpoon... 55 9. Sections of a throwing-lance. 55 10. Andesite point of a throwing-spear. 60 11. Andesite point of a throwing-spear. 60 12. Hornstone-schist point of a war throwing spear . 60 13. Point of a war throwing-spear of greenish- brown hornstone schist. 60 14. Point of war throwing-spear of andesite. 60 15. Andesite point with serrated edges. 60 16. a, harpoon point; b, c, d, lancets for bleeding; e, f, g, h, points for bow-arrows. 60 17. Small curved knife. 61 18. Large curved knife. 61 19. Large curved knife. 61 20. Unfinished point of a throwing-spear. 61 21. Unfinished knife . 61 22. Carving-knife . 62 23. a, adze for working wood; b, fragment of an adze . 62 24. a, b, adze with a polished blade; a, front, b, side view. 62 25. Small unfinished adze. 62 26. a to c, chisels for planing wood. 62 27. Fragment of a woman’s tailoring knife. 63 28. Fragment of a woman’s tailoring knife with a wooden handle . 63 29. Knife with serrated edges. 63 PAGE 30. a, knife used without a handle; b, transverse section of middle part of the knife.... 63 31. Fragment of a knife. 63 32. a, b, fragments of men’s knives. 65 33. Point of a lance. 65 34. a, implement for sawing small bones; b, knife for making bone needles. 65 35. Stone disk . 65 36. Stone disk with central perforation; a, convex side; b, flat side; c, transverse section through middle . 67 37. a-d, points for drills. 67 38. Whetstone for grinding and polishing bone implements . 68 39. Hammerstone for working stone implements: a, side view; b, transverse section. 68 40. A core . 68 41. a, b, c, bone flakers. 70 42. Bone flaker with handle. 7 ° 43. Piece of sea lion-skin. 70 44. Process of retouching stone implements. 71 45. Foreshaft of simple harpoon. 79 46. Foreshaft of simple harpoon. 79 47. Bone knife . 79 48. a, b, a, unknown bone implement; b, scraper for dressing bird skins. 79 49. a, b, a, curved bone knife; b, side view. 81 50. Straight bone knife. 81 51. Straight ice pick of a harpoon. 82 52. Curved ice-pick of a harpoon. 82 53. Throwing-lance for war. 82 54. a, b, sections of a throwing-lance for war.... 82 55. Bone point of fish-spear. 82 56. Harpoon-head . 82 57. Foreshaft of bow-arrow. 82 58. a, b, sections of bone fish-hook; c, fish-hook, entire . 87 Illustrations. ix TEXT FIGURES— Continued. PAGE 59. a, simple bone fish-hook; b, a simple bone fish¬ hook in process of manufacture. 87 60. a, b, both sides of bone skin-dressing scraper. 90 61. Fragment of back-scratcher. 90 62. Fragment of bone comb. 90 63. Fragment of bone comb. 91 64. Fragment of back-scratcher. 91 65. Bone mouthpiece for bladder. 91 66. Albatross humerus for making needles and awls . 91 67. a to h, a, b, needles; c, fragment of point for fish-spear; d and f, awls; e, tooth¬ pick ; g and h, unfinished points for fish-hooks . 91 68. Fragment of bone head for a throwing-lance. 92 69. Fragments of bone haft for stone knife, both sides .. 92 70. Two blunt-shaped heads of casting-lances for drilling . 92 71. Fragment of a bone haft. 92 72. a to c, fragments of heads of throwing- lances . 94 73. Fragment of bone haft for stone knife. 94 74. a, b, fragments of bone implements. 94 75. a, b, mouthpieces for bladdered harpoons_ 94 76. A drumhbone handle. 94 77. Bone figure of a fish. 94 78. Bone figure of some sea animal. 94 79. a, b, stone figures of a man. 95 80. Stone figure of a whale. 95 PAGE 81. a, b, fragment of bone head of a war-lance; a, side view; b, front view. 95 82. a, b, fragments of bone heads. 95 83. a, b, c, bone harpoon head: a, flat side; b, side view; c, a barb. 96 84. Marble labret . 96 85. Marble labret . 96 86. Fragment of marble labret. 96 87. Bone labret . 96 88. Marble labret . 96 89. a, b, c, bone labrets. 97 90. a, b, c, bone labrets. 97 91. Stone shaft-straightener . 97 92. a, b, c, paired bone labrets. 97 93. a, b, bone sections of skin boat-frame. 97 94. Bone labret . 98 95. Nose ornament . 98 96. Nose pendant . 98 97. a to d, nose pendants. 98 98. Bone ear-ring . 100 99. Nose or ear pendant. 100 100. Plug for enlarging labret perforation. 100 101. Sea lion tooth. 100 102. Bone buckle . 100 103. a, bone ring; b, stone ring. 100 104. a, b, rings of halibut vertebra. 100 105. Marble stopper . 100 xo6. Shell of Telina calcarea . 100 107. Sea-urchin . 104 108. Sea-urchin without needles. 104 109. Fragment of sea-urchin shell without needles. 104 no. Split pieces of sea-urchin shell. 104 Ethnographic map of Northeastern Asia and Northwestern America 132 JOCHELSON PLATE 1 Nazan Bay and the village on Atka Island. 3 > 4 - Excavations of the ancient village site, Nanikax, Attu Island Excavation of the ancient village site, Atxalax, on Atka Island. 5 - Excavations of Ugludax village site, mna s an CHAPTER I. ORGANIZATION AND PERSONNEL OF THE EXPEDITION. In the fall of 1907 the author was invited by the Moscow banker, F. P. Riaboushinsky, to conduct the anthropological work of the so-called Kamchatka Expedition, which was organized by Mr. Riaboushinsky at the suggestion of his former teacher, Professor A. A. Ivanovsky, of the University of Moscow. The following were the leaders of the other divisions of the expedition: Professor Wladimir L. Komarov, Botanical Division; Professor Peter J. Schmidt, Zoological Division; Doctor W. A. Vlassov, Meteorological Division; the mining engineers S. A. Konrady and E. W. Krug headed two subdivisions in geology—Historical Geology and the Kamchatka Volcanoes. Each division had several assistants and the expe¬ dition as a whole had 20 scientific members. Toward the end of 1907, Mr. Riaboushinsky requested the Imperial Russian Geographical Society to take the expedition under its patronage. The late president of the society, P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, warmly accepted this proposal and appointed a committee consisting of the heads of departments of the society and the division leaders of the expedition, with himself as chairman. In the work of organi¬ zation, the present president of the society, Lieutenant General J. M. Shokalsky, took an important part. Aside from the brief accounts by the leaders of the several divisions of the Kamchatka Expedition published in the Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geo¬ graphical Society and other scientific periodicals, only one volume of the expedition reports, that of the Botanical Division, by Professor Komarov, has been published. Preliminary accounts of the excavations on the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka were published by the author in the Bulletins of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society (Vol. XLV, Part IX, 1909, and Vol. XLVII, Parts I to V, 1911) under the title “ Letters of the leader of the Ethnological Division of the Kamchatka Expedi¬ tion to the Secretary of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.” The author also read two papers at the Eighteenth International Congress of Americanists in London (1912) : (1) The Aleut Language and its Relation to the Eskimo Dialects, and (2) Scientific Results of the Ethnological Section of the Riaboushinsky Expe¬ dition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society to the Aleutian Islands and Kamchatka (Proceedings, 18th International Congress of Americanists, pp. 96-194 and 334-343). In the Bulletins of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1913, pp. 133- 153 and 287-315) the author published a critical article: “The Aleut Language in the Light of Weniaminoff’s Grammar.” 1 2 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. REASONS FOR AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ALEUT. Thirty-nine years ago (1886) the author began his ethnological studies, spend¬ ing 19 years among primitive tribes. For 10 years (1886 to 1895) he studied the tribes of northeastern Asia while living among them as a political exile; 3 years (1895 to 1897) were spent in the northern districts of the Province of Yakutsk as a member of the Yakut Expedition of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, which was financed by Innocent Sibiriakofif; for 3 three years (1900 to 1902) he was engaged in the investigations of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History as a leader of the Siberian division of that expedition. Finally, for 3 years (1909 to 1911) he was leader of the Ethnological Division of the Kamchatka Expedition referred to previously. In the first years of his stay with the Siberian natives, the author became inter¬ ested in the culture of the so-called Pake-asiatic tribes. During the Yakut Expedi- dition he became convinced that there were cultural and somatological connections between the Pabe-asiatics and the Indians of North America, and later, while occu¬ pied with the Jesup Expedition, a closer comparative study of the subject brought to light certain affinities between the cultures of the Palae-asiatics and the tribes of the North Pacific Coast of North America; but we should point out that the culture of the Palse-asiatic tribes is a complex of Asiatic, Indian, and Eskimo elements. The Asiatic elements are: reindeer breeding as practiced by the nomadic divi¬ sions of the Palse-asiatic tribes, Siberian methods of dog driving, ancient pottery of the Koryak and Kamchadal, and the specific traits of Siberian shamanism. Indian elements may be distinguished in the identity of folk-lore, similarity in the methods of fishing, in the pictographic writings of the Yukaghir, in the germs of clan organi¬ zation of the Yukaghir, in the dug-out boats of the Yukaghir and Kamchadal, and in bone armor. In addition to these correspondences in culture, we find close somato¬ logical parallels between the Palae-asiatic tribes and the tribes of Alaska and Canada. Eskimo elements, in their main features, whether they originated in America or Siberia, may be called circumpolar, as they are adaptations to natural conditions of life in that region. The specific Eskimo features of culture are sea-hunting, cer¬ tain ritual associated with sea-hunting, skin boats, tailored fur clothing, the com¬ posite bow, snowshoes, dog-breeding, harpoons, and the earth hut. The Eskimo type of pictographic art and realistic carvings reach their highest perfection among the Koryak. The loose social organization of the Eskimo tribes and of the Palse-asiatics should also be mentioned; also the present primitive pottery of the Chukchee. The identity of the mythologies of the Siberian Koryak and Kamshadal and of the Indians of the northwest coast of America may be evidence of former direct cultural connection between these two groups. All of these tribes look upon the mythical Raven as a tribal ancestor, as a culture hero, and as a reformer of the world; at the same time, he is described as a trickster and as a humorous, lustful, and obscene mythological personage. The Kamchadal methods of fishing, in which skin boats are not employed, are the same as those of the northwestern Indians. Thus, the common spiritual culture, certain phases of the material culture, as well as similar physical traits, may indicate that intercourse between the northern Organization and Personnel of Expedition. 3 Palae-asiatics and the Indians of the northwest coast of America is of a very old date. Later, the Eskimo formed a wedge, as it were, between these two, and inter¬ rupted the contact. The tip of this wedge was held by the Aleut. However, little attention has been given to the Aleut problem, though comparative studies of the Eskimo in Alaska were carried on by Nelson, Murdoch, and others. Further, the Aleut were not studied by members of the Jesup Expedition. In consequence, the author proposed that the area investigated by the Kamchatka Expedition be extended to include the Aleutian Islands. The term Palce-asiatics 1 was first proposed by Professor Schrenk 2 as the group- name for the Siberian and American tribes occupying the circumpolar area, but this grouping was not based upon specific data, for there had been no satisfactory field studies. The fusion of these tribes into a single ethnic group was based on assumed linguistic characters and on negative evidence; the scanty notes on the language of these peoples which were available at that time showed that, according to structure, they could not be classified with the Ural-Altaic group of languages; 3 but how far the so-called Palse-asiatic languages were interrelated, and whether the tribes speak¬ ing them were anthropologically kindred peoples remained an open question. Consequently, it was not without reason that the well-known German ethnologist, Peschel, called one group of the Palae-asiatics “ Nordasieten von umbestimmter systematischer Stellung, ,, thus confessing his inability to classify them. 4 Even now we can not make a definite statement as to the relations of the Yenissei-Ostyak to the Chukchee, Koryak, and other northern Palae-asiatics; also, the puzzling question of the Ainos, the pre-Japanese inhabitants of Japan, is still far from solution, although such an authority as the late Professor Baeltz ascribed a Caucasian origin to them. 5 Some other attempts to classify the northeastern tribes of Siberia should be mentioned. Friedrich Muller calls them, on geographical grounds, together with the Aleut and Eskimo, “ Arctic or hyperborean races,” 6 but it is a question whether the Ainos can be called an Arctic tribe. Moreover, from an anthropological point of view, this classification is as meaningless as Schrenk’s Palae-asiatics. Miss Czaplicka 7 proposed another classification, grouping them into “ Neo- Siberians ” and “ Paleo-Siberians ” instead of the terms “ Ural-Altaians ” and 1 The group comprises: the Chukchee, Koryak, Kamchadal, Yukaghir, Chuvantzi, Ainos, Gilyak, and the Yenissei Ostyak. The Aleut and the Eskimo were also included in this group. 2 Leopold Schrenk, Die Volker des Amurlandes, pp. 254-262. Petersburg, 1871. 3 We may mention here some articles on the languages of the Yukaghir, Chukchee, and Gilyak published by the Russian Academy of Sciences, the results of careful Work of learned linguists, based, however, on materials, quantitatively scanty and qualitatively of little value, brought together by casual and unqualified col¬ lectors (officials, missionaries, and naturalists). A. Schiefner, Ueber die Sprache der Jukagiren (Bull. Hist. Phil., XVI, 1859, PP- 241-253, and Mel. asiat., Ill, pp. 595-612) : Beitrage zur Kenntniss der jukagirischen Sprache (Bull. XVI, 1871, pp. 273-399, and Mel. asiat., VI, pp. 409-446) ; Ueber Baron v. Maydell’s jukagirische Sprachproben (Bull. XVII, 1871, pp. 86-103, and Mel. asiat, VI, pp. 600-626). L. Radloff, Ueber die Sprache der Tschuktschen und ihr Verhaltniss zunt Koriakischen, St. Petersburg (Memoirs de l’Acad. Ill, No. 10, 1861). Dr. W. Grube, Giljakisches Wbrterverzeichniss nebst grammatischen Bemerkungen (Anhang zum III B. der Reisen u. Forschungen im Amurlande v. Dr. Leopold v. Schrenk, Lief. 1). 4 O. Peschel, Volkerkunde, p. 413. Leipzig, 1876. 5 E. Baeltz, Die Menschenrassen Ostasiens (Verhandlungen der Berliner anthropologischer Gesellschaft, 1901, March, p. 202) ; ibid.,Zur Vor- und Urgeschichte Japans (Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, pp. 287-310. Berlin, 1907). 6 F. R. Muller, Allgemeine Ethnographie, p. 188. Wien, 1873. 7 M. A. Czaplicka, Aboriginal Siberia, a Study in Social Anthropology, Oxford University Press, 15. 1914. 4 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. “ Palse-asiatics.” Such a grouping was very convenient for the special aims of this author, which were to give a sociological survey of the Siberian population only. Hence, her “ Neo-Siberian ” group does not include the related tribes outside of Siberia; neither does her “ Paleo-Siberian ” group include other indigenous Asiatic peoples, now becoming extinct. So in many respects, this classification is less satis¬ factory than that of Schrenk. While it is true that on the basis of linguistic, or rather linguo-psychological, characters 8 the Ural-Altaians form a single ethnic group, this does not fully meet the requirements of an anthropological classification. Again, “ Neo-Siberian ” is not a somatological term, and the Finnish tribes included in this designation can hardly be called “ Neo-Siberians.” The designation “ Palse-asiatics,” as proposed by the late Professor Schrenk, was based chiefly on historico-geographical considerations, no account being taken of somatological data. This is also true of the term “ Paleo-Siberians.” On the other hand, according to Schrenk, the so-called Palse-asiatics were driven to north¬ eastern Siberia from the south. In this sense the name “ Paleo-Siberians ” does not correspond to the term “ Palse-asiatics,” for the latter, according to the understand¬ ing of Professor Schrenk, were not ancient dwellers of Siberia. To avoid the inex¬ actness of both terms (Paleo-Siberians and Palse-asiatics), 9 the present author pre¬ fers another historico-geographical term, that used by Ratzel, “ die Rand-Volker ” (marginal peoples) which includes the American Eskimo. The Yakut Expedition of 1895 considerably extended our knowledge of two tribes, the Chukchee and the Yukaghir, in whose cultural development and language structure some Indian elements were found. 10 Later, the investigation of the Palse-asiatics by the Jesup Expedition was car¬ ried out on a much broader comparative basis. The problems of the investigators were not only to study the Palse-asiatic tribes, but to clear up the ethnological con¬ nections between the natives of northeastern Asia and northwestern America and to further the solution of the question of the origin of the American race. A brief survey of the phases through which this question has passed follows: It is well known that America, when discovered, was taken for India, and the inhabitants for natives of India. Later, as its geographical position was determined, the question of the origin of its inhabitants arose. From the beginning they have been identified as immigrants from Asia, Polynesia, or Europe, or regarded as descendants of two (Mongolian-Malayan) or three (Malay-Mongolian-Caucasian) races. Originally, these associations were quite speculative, but during the course 8 In explanation of this term it should be stated that in the Semitic or Aryan languages, for example, we understand them to be languages having a common origin. This, however, is not the case with the Ural-Altaian group of languages, to which we ascribe only common or similar phonetic and structural principles. 9 The term “ Palse-asiatics ” may, besides, incorrectly suggest that all the rest of Asiatic peoples were not the ancient inhabitants of Asia. 10 See W. Bogoras, “Brief Account of the Investigation of the Chukchee of the Kolyma District (Bulletin of the East Siberian Division of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. XXX, part i, Irkutsk, 1897) ; idem, Materials for the Study of the Chukchee Language and Folklore collected in the Kolyma District, part 1, edited by the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrograd, 1900; W. Jochelson, Preliminary account of the Investigation of the Natives of the Kolyma and Verkhoyansk Districts (Bulletin of the East Siberian Division of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, Vol. XXIX, part 1, 1898) ; idem, Materials for the Study of the Yukaghir Language and Folklore, part 1. edited by the Imperial Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrograd, 1900. Organization and Personnel of Expedition. 5 of the nineteenth century more rational theories on this subject appeared. 11 In oppo¬ sition to these theories was a new hypothesis presented by Professor Ameghino, the South American palaeontologist. In brief, he holds that not merely the American race, but all mankind, originated in South America. 12 From the beginning European anthropologists took a skeptical position as to this theory and eventually proved that the fragments of the skull upon which Ameghino had based his hypothesis were those of a human skull of the present period. 13 Lehinann-Nitsche also took a critical attitude toward Ameghino’s theory; however, he regarded some of the fossil bones of man from South America as belonging to the Pleistocene period. 14 Doctor Hrdlicka, after a careful study of the pseudo-ancient remains of man in South America, came to the conclusion that in these cases we are dealing with recent bones. 15 The same is maintained by Doctor Hrdlicka with regard to the skeletal remains of supposed ancient man in North America. 16 It should be noted that Doctor Hrdlicka had previously admitted that some of the skeletal remains of man in North America might belong to the Pleistocene period, 17 but, after a further study of the subject, he changed his opinion. In his work on early man in South America he states: “ Subsequent researches, however, cleared up most of the uncertain points and the entire inquiry appeared to establish the fact that no specimen had come to light in the Northern con¬ tinent, which, from the standpoint of physical anthropology, represented other than a relatively modern man.” 18 Thus, it may be said that up to the present time, neither in North America nor in South America have remains of Tertiary or of Diluvial man been discovered. From what has been said before, we may conclude that man appeared in America later than in the Old World and that America can be considered neither the cradle of mankind nor the place of origin of the American race. The absence of anthropoid apes in America lends support to the second supposition, even if the polygenetic theory be admitted. If the question of the independent origin of the American race is solved nega¬ tively, then the question arises: Whence and in what geological period did man appear on American soil ? The absence of Diluvial remains of man in America may 11 See A. Hrdlicka, Origin of the American Aborigines, Historical Notes (Amer. Anthropologist, vol. 14, Jan.- Mar., 1912, p. 5; idem, The Peopling of America (Journal of Heredity, vol. 6, No. 2, February 1915, p. 51). 12 F. Ameghino, Le Diprothomo platensis, un precurseur de I’homme du pliocene inferieur de Buenos Aires (Anales Museo Nacional, Buenos Aires, XIX, 1909). 13 See G. Steinmann, Das Alter des Menschen in Argentinien (Ber. Prahist. Vers. Coin, 1908) ; L. Wilson, Spuren des Vormenschen aus Siid-America (Korr.-Blatt der Deutschen Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie, Ethnolo- gie und Urgeschichte, XXXIX Jahrgang, 1908, Braunschweig) ; G. Schwalbe, Studien zur Morphologie der Sudamerikanischen Primatenformen (Zeitschrift fur Morphol. und Anthr., Band XIII, Heft 2, Stuttgart, 1910, pp. 209-258) ; M. Friedmann, Vorlage eines des Schadeldachs von Diprothomo platensis Ameghino (Zeitschrift fur Ethnol. Berlin, Heft 6, 19x0) and Professor von Luschan’s note to Friedmann’s article. See also Professor von Luschan’s latest publication: Volker, Rassen, Sprachen, Berlin, 1922, p. 9. 14 R. Lehmann-Nitsche, El hombre fossil pampeano (Bol. Ofic. Nac. Estad. La Paz, Bolivia, VI, 1910, PP- 363-366) ; Nouvelles Recherches sur la formation pampeenne et I’homme fossile de la Republique Argentine (Rev. Mus. La Plata, T. 14, 1907) ; Homo sapiens und Homo neogceus aus der argentinischen Pampas formation (Verh. 16 Internat. Amerik. Kongr. S. 63, 1909). 15 A. Hrdlicka, Early Man in South America (Bureau of American Ethnology Bull. 52, Washington, 19x2). 16 Ibid., Skeletal Remains Suggesting or Attributed to Early Man in North America (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 33, Washington, 1907). 17 Ibid., The Crania of Trenton, New Jersey, and their bearing upon the Antiquity of Man in that Region (Bulletin American Museum of Natural History, XVI, pp. 23-62, New York, 1902). 18 Ibid., Early Man in South America, Preface, p. v. 6 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. answer the second part of the question. The question whence man came to America may be answered in favor of Asia. For a mass migration convenient physico- geographical conditions were necessary. Such conditions did not exist between Europe and America in the Pleistocene period. The so-called Icelandic bridge which, as geologists suppose, connected northwestern Europe with northeastern America existed as far back as the Miocene and not later than the Pliocene period of the Tertiary Age, 19 when the existence of man, even in Europe, is doubtful, or positively rejected by leading anthropologists. Besides, the earliest traces of man found on the remnants of the former Icelandic bridge still standing above water or on the neighboring shores may be referred to the Azilian stage, as in Scotland, 20 or to the early neolithic period, as in Scandinavia. 21 Immigration of Polynesians in southern America may have been only acci¬ dental and then only in recent times, when their culture rose to the point where skill in navigation was sufficiently developed. Besides, some data point to the fact that the Polynesians may be recent arrivals in the Pacific. 22 Geological and palaeontological data show that Alaska and Siberia were con¬ nected in the middle of the Pleistocene period, when the mammoth passed over from Asia to America, or, even toward the end of the Pleistocene, when the reindeer, elk, musk-ox, bison, mountain sheep, and bears appeared in America. 23 According to Dawson, 24 man probably passed from Asia to America, in pursuit of migrating ani¬ mals, over the Asian-American bridge or over that vast continental plateau which occupied what is now Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and a part of the Arctic Sea. Professor K. I. Bogdanovich also supposes that Bering Strait was formed during the Quaternary period at the end of the era of the mammoth, as a result of a post- Pliocene sinking of the sea, and that the final separation of the Asiatic and Ameri¬ can continents took place at the beginning of Recent time. 25 Proof of the former land connection between the Seward and Chukchee peninsulas may be found in the similarity of rock structure on both sides of Bering Strait. 26 It is natural, then, to anticipate similarities between the northern Asiatics and the American races. In spite of great variety in types, the American natives show definite similarities to Asiatics. New data on this point were sought by the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, which, taking for granted the migration of man from the Old World to the New, had as its objective a detailed comparative investigation of the American-Asiatic tribes nearest Bering Sea. The careful investigation of these tribes gave very significant indications as to the character of the ethnological 19 See R. F. Scharf, On the Evidence of a Former Land-Bridge between Northern Europe and North America (Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., 1909, vol. XVIII, Sect. B., pp. 3-28). 20 See J. Anderson, Proc. Soc. Antiq. of Scotland, Vol. XXIX, 1895, p. 211. 21 See W. J. Sollas, Ancient Hunters and their Modern Representatives, London, 1911, p. 379. 22 See A. C. Haddon, The Wanderings of Peoples, Cambridge, 1911; Clark Wissler, The American Indian, 390. 23 J. W. Gidley, Paleontological Evidence bearing on the Problem of the Origin of the American Aborigines (American Anthropologist, vol. 14, No. 1, p. 19. 1912). 24 G. M. Dawson, Geological Notes on some of the Coasts and Islands of the Bering Sea and Vicinity (Bull. Amer. Geol. Society, 1894, V., pp. 117-146). 25 C. I. Bogdanovich, Sketches on the Chukchee Peninsula (in Russian), pp. 152-154. Petrograd, 1901. 26 See Fr. Immanuel, Nordwest-Amerika und Nordost-Asien (Petermanns Mitteilungen, Band 48, pp. 4(9-58. 1902). Organization and Personnel of Expedition. 7 connections between the northern Palse-asiatics, the Indians, and Eskimo. The mythologies of the Indians of the northwest coast of America and the northern Palae-asiatics, in outline and in detail, in form and in content, are so similar that there can be no question as to their interdependence. Many similarities were also found in their spiritual life as well as in their material culture. 27 The languages of the northern Palae-asiatics, according to their grammatical structure, must be ranged with American languages. 28 In physical type, also, the northern Palae-asiatics are nearer to the northwestern Indians than to their Asiatic neighbors. Thus, we may call the northern Palae-asiatics the Americanoid tribes of Siberia. Based on above data, Professor Boas made the following inferences: “ A consideration of the distribution, and the characteristics of languages and human types in America and Siberia, have led me to formulate the theory that the so-called Palae- asiatic tribes of Siberia must be considered as an offshoot of the American race, which may have migrated back after the retreat of the Arctic glaciers.” 29 The basic idea of this hypothesis is that the American race migrated from Asia to America in one of the interglacial periods, then was pushed southward by the advance of the ice, and after the retreat of the glaciers some of the people moved northward again and some returned to Asia. In this manner may be explained the cultural and physical affinities of the Northern Palae-asiatics (Chukchee, Koryak, Kamchadal, and Yukaghir) and the Indians of the northwest coast of America. The theory of the Asiatic origin of the American aborigines and of the re¬ emigration from America into Asia of the Siberian tribes which we call Ameri- canoids, may find a corroborative parallel in the history of the distribution of certain Asiatic zoological species. Professor Peter P. Sushkin, of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in his paper “ Outlines of the History of the Fauna of Palearctic Asia,” read April 25, 1925, before the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, 293 stated: “ M. Severtzoff and Professor Nassonov, after studying the distribution and structure of the wild sheep, have both come to the conclusion that this genus migrated from High Asia to America before the last glaciation; that in America they were driven south by the glacia¬ tion ; that afterwards the American stock spread again to the north and gave origin to another group; and finally that this new group spread back into the Asian continent and occupied 27 Franz Boas, Die Jesup Expedition (Verhandlungen des XVI Internationalen Americanisten-Kongresses, Wien, 1909) ; Waldemar Bogoras, The Folklore of Northeastern Asia (American Anthropologist, Vol. IV, No. 2, 1902, p. 621) ; ibid., The Chukchee (Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VIII, 1905-1910). Waldemar Jochelson, Ueber Asiatische und Amerikanische Elemente in den Mythen der Koryaken (Verhandl. des XIV Internationalen Amerikanisten Kongresses, Stuttgart, 1904) ; The Koryak, Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. VI. 28 Waldemar Jochelson, Essay on the Grammar of the Yukaghir Language (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. XVI, part 2, March, 1905). Reprinted as a supplement to the American Anthropologist, vol. 7, No. 2, 1905. Sternberg, Bemerkungen iiber Beziehungen zwischen der Morphologie der Giljakischen und Amerikanischen Sprachen (Verhandl. des XIV Internat. Amerikanisten Kongresses, Stuttgart, 1904), pp. 137-140. Waldemar Bogoras, Chukchee Language (Handbook of American Indian Languages, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bull. 40, part 2). 29 Franz Boas, Ethnological Problems in Canada (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 1910, Vol. XL, p. 534) ; see also, Franz Boas, The History of the American Race (Annals, New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. XXI, 1911, pp. 177-183, New York, 1912). 29a See Science, May 15, 1925. 8 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. Eastern Siberia, so that the present Siberian sheep stand, geographically and structurally, in no close relation with the sheep of High Asia.” The Eskimo, to which stock the Aleut belong, should be given special consid¬ eration here; despite some specific characters which differentiate them from the Indians, they are considered as a division of the American race. At present, the Alaskan and Siberian Eskimo separate the Northwestern Indians from the Palae- asiatics. We believe that the Eskimo recently came from the east and interrupted the relations of the Palae-asiatics and Indians. In a certain sense this supposition may be contradictory to the generally recognized views on the Eskimo, but we must distinguish two periods in the Eskimo migrations—a recent and an ancient one. At a time when the data for an Asiatic origin of the American race were not so well worked out as they are now, Rudolf Virchow, basing his opinion on measure¬ ments made on a small number of Greenland and Labrador Eskimo, expressed his belief as to their Mongoloid origin, despite their dolichocephalic head indices. 30 Schrenk, based chiefly on historico-geographical considerations, ranks the Eskimo among the Palae-asiatic tribes. 31 Wrangel says: “ There are traditions which relate that two centuries ago the Onkilon occupied the whole of the Arctic coast from Cape Shelagskoi to Bering Strait, and it is true that there are every¬ where along this tract the remains of huts constructed of earth and whalebones and quite differ¬ ent from the present dwellings of the Chukchee.” 32 Bogoras also recognizes the fact that on the Arctic coast there was previously more of the Eskimo element, which, little by little, became assimilated with the Chukchee. Some of the names of the present Chukchee villages on the Arctic shore can be explained only on the basis of the Eskimo language. 33 The Danish investi¬ gator of Greenland, Doctor Thalbitzer, 34 expressed his belief that the Eskimo came to America from Siberia. To the number of adherents of the hypothesis that the Eskimo migrated to America from Siberia, many names, both old and new, may be added, such as Chamisso, Litke, Weniaminoff, Patkanoff, and many others. If we regard the Eskimo as a division of the American race, this hypothesis is quite in accord with the theory of the Asiatic origin of the aboriginal American population in general. On the other hand, we meet with the opposite opinion. Thus Billings, Klaprot, Rink, Dali, and Boas believe the Eskimo went to Siberia from America. One of the latest investigators of the Eskimo, V. Stefansson, states that “ the Eskimo appeared in Alaska from the east and have reached Bering Strait comparatively not far back, probably less than a thousand years ago. 85 30 R. Virchow, Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie, Band XII, 1880. 131 Schrenk, Die Volker des Amur-Landes, Band III, p. 249. 32 Wrangel, Voyage, etc., p. 357, Under “ Onkilon” Wrangel understands “Eskimo,” but actually it means “ Coast dweller.” (See Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 463.) 33 Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 22. 34 William Thalbitzer, The Amassalik Eskimo, p. 717, Copenhagen, 1914. 35 V. Stefansson, On Eskimo Work, 1908-1912. (Summary Rept. Geological Survey Canada, 1912, p. 488.) Organization and Personnel of Expedition. 9 These controversies concerning Eskimo migrations may be reconciled, for undoubtedly migrations of some Eskimo divisions from America to Siberia, and vice versa, could and actually did occur under present geological conditions. The migrations mentioned above took place in the not far distant past. Another hypo¬ thesis concerning Eskimo migrations from the Old World to the New, in remote prehistoric times, is that of Professor Boyd Dawkins, who connects them with man of the Magdalenian period in Europe, basing his opinion on the similarity of their realistic art in carving and engraving human and animal figures . 36 Some ethnologists are returning to this hypothesis. Of special interest in this connection is Sollas’s marshaling of cultural parallels and anatomical data to prove his case. According to his theory, two races of long-headed men of the Magdalenian period emigrated from the Old World through Asia to America. From one race of high stature, the Cro-Magnon, the Algonkin division of Indians originated; from the other, that of Dordogne, people of low stature, the Eskimo originated . 37 From what has been said before, the points on which the Aleut, a tribe of the Eskimo stock, need investigation may be surmised. As we shall see in Chapter VII, the same differences of opinion existed concerning the Aleut as of the entire Eskimo stock. The aims of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition were to study a certain chain of Asiatic and American tribes, in order to clear up their former history, their con¬ nections among themselves, and their relations to neighboring tribes. The Aleut formed one of the missing links of that chain. The investigation of the Aleut, and particularly, the investigation of their prehistory, so far as this can be carried for¬ ward through excavations of ancient village sites, will throw some light on questions referring to remote times and to ancient ethnical relations. Thus, the investigation of the connections between the Americanoid tribes of Asia, the Northwestern Indians, and the Eskimo may help to clear up the migration question. Leading anthropologists regard the whole of mankind as belonging to one species: Homo sapiens. Although, up to the present time, fossil remains of ancient man have been discovered only in Europe, Asia has been looked upon as the place of man’s origin. Asia was the place of origin of higher civilizations, the domestica¬ tion of animals, and the cultivation of plants . 38 Before the appearance of man Asia is believed to have been the cradle of evolu¬ tion and the center of animal dispersion both westward and eastward . 30 Professor von Luschan, though acknowledging the hypothesis that the Ameri¬ can continent was peopled by immigration from northeastern Asia, believes, how¬ ever, that the physical type of some American tribes may have been influenced to a certain degree by Scandinavian navigators, who probably reached the northeastern 86 Boyd Dawkins, Die Hollen und die Urbewohner Europas (translated from English), 1876, p. 224. See also W. J. Hoffman, The Graphic Art of the Eskimo (Report, U. tS. National Museum, Washington, 1897), p. 764. 37 W. J. Sollas, Ancient Hunters and their Modern Representatives, London, 1911, pp. 370-383. 38 See, e. g., K. Keller, Die H'austiere, in Hans Kremer’s, “ Der Mensch und die Erde,” Vol. I, p. 181. 1905. 39 H. F. Osborn, Proving Asia the Mother of Continents (Asia, The American Magazine on the Orient, Vol. XXII, No. 9, pp. 721-724. 1922). 10 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. coast of America in very remote times. 40 But in our opinion accidental visits of North European adventurers could hardly affect the somatology of Indian tribes. The high cultures of Mexico and Central America do not interfere with the theory of the Asiatic origin of the American population. It is now generally admitted that America was originally populated from Asia on a culture-level no higher than the Neolithic and that there is abundant evidence that ceramics, weaving, and culti¬ vation of plants were independently invented long after the original settlement. Not long ago, Doctor Hrdlicka took up the task of investigating the direct rela¬ tions between the American population and the Mongol tribes of Asia, thus enlarg¬ ing the scope of the investigations by the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. Such an enterprise is very welcome, but up to the present time Doctor Hrdlicka’s published statements give only general impressions of the types of local populations received in the course of his travels in 1912 over Transbaikalia and Northern Mongolia. Based on these observations, Doctor Hrdlicka advanced the following opinion: “ There exist to-day over large parts of Eastern Siberia, and in Mongolia, Tibet, and other regions in that part of the world, numerous remains, which now form constituent parts of more modern tribes or nations, of a more ancient population (related in origin perhaps with the latest Palaeolithic European), which was physically identical with and in all probability gave rise to the American Indian.” 41 Judging by the citation from Doctor Hrdlicka, he connects the American race not with the Mongoloid or other East Asiatic tribes, but with those Palse-asiatic tribes which entered into the formation of the former. In that way, while the Jesup Expedition built a bridge between the Indians and the Palse-asiatic tribes of north¬ eastern Siberia, Doctor Hrdlicka strives to establish a close relation between the American race and the Palse-asiatic elements now diffused among the present East Asiatic nations. To that end it is necessary to establish scientifically the proposed Palse-asiatic elements. Such an intricate problem can not be solved by a local anthro¬ pological investigation, and certainly not by an exclusively anthropological investi¬ gation, but in a detailed and many-sided study of the tribes of Eastern Asia with reference to their prehistory, somatology, and ethnology. The conclusion to Doctor Hrdlicka’s paper may be cited here: “ The task of learning the exact truth remains for the future. In relation to opportunities for further investigation, the author has satisfied himself that the field for anthropological and archaeological research in eastern Asia is vast, rich, to a large extent still virginal, and probably not excessively complicated. It is surely a field which calls for close attention not only on the part of European students of the Far East, but especially on the part of the American investi¬ gator who deals with the problems of the origin and immigration of the American Indian.” 40 Felix von Luschan, Volker, Rassen, Sprachen, Berlin, p. 21. 1922. 41 A. Hrdlicka, Remains in Eastern Asia of the Race that peopled America (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 60, No. 16, Washington, 1912). See also by the same author, “ Restes dans I’Asie orientale de la Race qui a peuple I’Amerique (Congres International d’Anthropologie et d’archeologie prehistorique, Compte Rendu de la XIV Session, Geneve, 1912). CHAPTER II. THE JOURNEY TO THE ALEUTIANS. For reasons to be detailed below, the Ethnological Division of the Kamchatka Expedition began its work on the Aleutian Islands and not in Kamchatka with the rest of the party. To work in Kamchatka simultaneously with the other divisions of the expedition would have added to the difficulties of travel and transportation by dog-team and horses, neither of which was easily obtainable. Then, too, the Aleu¬ tian Islands are not readily accessible from Kamchatka, there being no boat service between Kamchatka and the Aleutians. So our only means of reaching them was by way of the United States. It was necessary, too, to obtain assistance from Ameri¬ can scientific institutions and permission to work on the islands from the United States Government. Consequently, the members of the Ethnological Division set out from Petrograd for the United States, visiting England en route. PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. We arrived in New York, October i, 1908, and left for San Francisco on November 21. With the exception of a 10 days’ visit to Washington, the entire period was spent in New York in preparing for the expedition, in purchasing stores, instruments, books, and all the impedimenta of a long voyage. This preliminary work was carried on in the American Museum of Natural History, where the author was able to make liberal use of its library. The museum also placed an office at our disposal and rendered assistance in the packing and transportation of our equipment. For this kind hospitality acknowledgment is made to the president of the American Museum, Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn; its former director, Doctor H. C. Bumpus, and the curator of the Department of Anthropology, Doctor Clark Wissler. As before stated, it was necessary to obtain permission to excavate on the Aleu¬ tian Islands; to apply to the United States Treasury Department for leave to use the vessels of the Revenue Service in transportation from one island to another; and to ask permission of the Department of Commerce and Labor to land on the seal islands of the Pribilof group, to make ethnological and anthropological observations. The negotiations to obtain the necessary permits were carried on by the Im¬ perial Russian Geographical Society through the Russian secretary of state, and, due to the kind offices of the Russian ambassador in Washington, these permits were granted. Doctor Charles D. Walcott, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who must approve all permits before they are issued, not only added his sanction, but the 11 12 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. Bureau of American Ethnology, having planned an expedition to the Aleutians, withdrew in our favor. Professor W. H. Holmes, then chief of the Bureau, kindly gave the writer access to all correspondence on the subject, from which it became clear that in the opinion of the bureau the author was competent to conduct the work on. the Aleutians and that two expeditions were unnecessary. It may be added that the American authorities raised no objections to exporting the specimens found during the excavations. En route, we visited San Francisco to study the Aleutian collections in the Anthropological Museum of the University of California; also to secure the assis¬ tance of the Alaska Commercial Company, which had agents both in Alaska and the Aleutians. Thanks to the kindness of Professor A. L. Kroeber, of the Univer¬ sity of California, the author had opportunity to examine the Aleutian Island col¬ lections. The Director of the Alaska Commercial Company, Mr. Schloss, kindly furnished us with letters of introduction to the agents of the company, and from him also we obtained a letter of credit. We left San Francisco by rail on November 30 and reached Seattle on Decem¬ ber 1, whence, on December 8, 1908, we sailed on the Santa Clara of the Alaska Steamship Company. Our destination was Seward, a village on the Kenai Penin¬ sula, whence it was possible to reach Unalaska by the small mail-steamer which covered this route monthly. We arrived in Seward on December 15, on which date the mail steamer, Dora, was expected to sail for Unalaska. Though we had been advised against a winter trip on Bering Sea, we preferred to winter in Unalaska, so that we could become acquainted with local conditions and, in addition, arrange for transportation to the other islands during the summer. It had been impossible to obtain exact information as to the means of communication between the islands, labor conditions, and other practical questions concerning our proposed work, even from some former Alaskan Government officials we had met in Washington. Some information had been obtained from Professor T. A. Jaggar, then of the Massachu¬ setts Institute of Technology, who, the previous year, had studied the volcanoes of the Aleutians. The Santa Clara followed the route through the so-called Inside Passage of the straits between the islands offi the coast of British Columbia and Alaska and the mainland. We had a very quiet passage to Juneau. To our regret, we did not touch at Baranof Island and thus had no opportunity to visit Sitka, the former capital of Russian-American territory. Russian influence appears to have been stronger at Sitka than at any other point in Alaska. During the summer months numerous tour¬ ists take the trip through the Inside Passage, where are combined the beauties of Scandinavian fjords, Alpine mountains, imposing waterfalls, and snow-crowned peaks with ice-clad slopes. From Juneau we passed out into the open sea and were at once agreed that “ Pacific ” was a misnomer for the northern portion of the ocean, particularly in winter. We stopped at several points and after a very stormy passage reached Seward December 17, 1908. The Journey to the Aleutians. 13 The Santa Clara was a small freight steamer with good cabins. In spite of the season, the cabins were all occupied—engineers, traders, officials, laborers, and gold hunters made up the passenger list. Some passengers left the steamer in Juneau to start to the Yukon River with mail-horses; others went from Valdez to the mines of Fairbanks, Klondike, and other mining districts. During the winter, Nome, on the Seward Peninsula, may be reached from Valdez by dog-team. We had our first view of an Alaskan dog-team in Valdez. The Alaskan method of harnessing dogs is very efficient. Everywhere we saw fisheries and canneries closed down for the winter. The mail steamer Dora, which, according to the schedule, was to await us at Seward, did not appear, having been sent for inspection to San Francisco. Instead, a freighter, Faralon, was substituted. This steamer left Seattle simultaneously with the Santa Clara, loaded with benzine and explosives and carrying no passengers, and arrived at Seward 7 days later. We left Seward December 24, 1908, and arrived in Unalaska on January 3, 1909. In summer this is a trip of only 3 days. We had a very stormy passage. The Faralon was a river boat, not at all suitable for ocean waters, and yet, with the exception of the passage through Shelikhof Strait, between Kodiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula, it sailed the open sea. A storm delayed us 3 days at Kodiak Island and gave us an opportunity to visit Kodiak village, where we found an old orthodox church and a school maintained by the Holy Russian Synod. During the last 2 days of our voyage the poop and mast were broken and we proceeded through Akutan Pass under extreme difficulty. Just before entering Unalaska Bay the weather calmed. The snowy summits of the bay, the precipitous rocky shores, and the smoking volcano Makushin presented a sublime and majestic spectacle. We went first to Dutch Harbor, on Amaknak Island, lying in the middle of Unalaska Bay. Here were the headquarters of the North American Commercial Company, the lessees of the Pribilof Islands. After leaving Seward we had few fellow-travelers. Two left for Kodiak, three for Unga, the largest island of the Shumagin group, and we were the only passen¬ gers for Unalaska. At that season of the year only absolute necessity leads one to make the trip and it is only to carry out a mail contract that the steamship company maintains communication between Unalaska and the mainland. A month later the Faralon was completely wrecked on the rocky shores of Kodiak Island. UNALASKA. In Unalaska we were very kindly received by Mr. N. Gray, the Alaska Com¬ mercial Company agent, who put one of the company storehouses at our disposal gratis and recommended that we hire the house of the late Russian priest, Shayeshnikov. A more complete description of life in Unalaska will appear elsewhere, but the following will present the general setting for our future activities. Unalaska, the village, known also by its Aleut name, Uiuliuk, is the principal settlement on the island of that name. It was founded by Solovyov between 1660 and 1670. In 1909 14 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. it had a population of 281. Of that number 242 were Aleut and 39 whites or “ strangers,” chiefly Americans. The village is situated on a narrow sandbar between a rivulet and the bay. In the village were a Greek Catholic church, a Russian home for Aleut boys, a Methodist mission home for Aleut and Eskimo boys and girls, and a Government elementary school which the children living in both homes were obliged to attend. Of American officials, there were the United States marshal, Mr. Harman; the superintendent of the Government school and commissioner, Mr. Brown; the custom-house officer, a Russian-Tlingit, born in Sitka, Mr. Bol- shanin, and the mail clerk, Miss Wagner. The Rev. Nicholas Rissov was the priest of the Russian church; he was born in Sitka, in the family of a Russian official. Of Russians who became American citizens after the purchase of Alaska by the United States, there were two sons of the late Russian priest, Shayeshnikov, and the son-in- law of the Reverend Rissov. In the Russian home for children was a teacher recently arrived from Russia. The representatives from other European countries in the village were two Germans, one Norwegian, one Dane, and one Swede. With the exception of the Swede, Nyuman, who was married to the daughter of the late Russian priest, all the other Europeans had Aleut wives. The superintendent of the Methodist mission home was Doctor Spence, missionary and surgeon; four Ameri¬ can women, including Mrs. Spence, taught in the home. In the Government school, besides the superintendent, were two women teachers. Others in the village were Captain Applegate and his family. Captain Applegate was at one time United States Signal Service recorder, but at the time of our visit was engaged in sea-otter hunt¬ ing. In Dutch Harbor lived Mr. Schroter, the manager of the North American Commercial Company, and two American clerks. We established ourselves for work in Unalaska until the spring. The question of means of transportation between the islands during the summer, however, caused us much worry, there being no regular communication. Once a year the Alaska Commercial Company sent a schooner carrying merchandise to Atka and Attu. In former years, Mr. Dirks, a German from Hamburg, who in his youth was a sailor and later engaged in trade with the Aleut, used to take a small schooner to Atka. But since his retirement he had sold his schooner. Mr. Lee, the Dane, also had a small sailing schooner which he used for trading in the islands nearest to Unalaska. He was willing to take us to Atka, but aside from the danger, this would have entailed great loss of time, since sailing to the west in summer would have been checked by contrary winds. When in New York another plan for transportation had been formulated. In cooperation with Dr. T. A. Jaggar, jr., 1 of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech¬ nology, on behalf of the Geological Survey, and Dr. A. H. Brooks, of the Alaska division of the survey, it had been agreed that we jointly hire a sailing vessel with auxiliary motor to carry us to the western islands. But all inquiries led to the con¬ clusion that such a craft was unfitted for a voyage in Bering Sea, while the cost of a steamer was prohibitive. After various other unsuccessful attempts to obtain 1 Doctor Jaggar is at present the volcanologist of the U. S. Weather Bureau and director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea. The Journey to the Aleutians. 15 transportation, we learned that the Geological Survey had been obliged to postpone its expedition to the islands. Thus we were left to depend on our own resources, so far as transportation was concerned. Finally, the following arrangements were made: In March a new sailing vessel of the Alaska Commercial Company was expected to arrive from Kodiak. We planned to sail on her to Attu Island and in July a revenue cutter could carry our party from Attu to Atka. Captain Applegate, in September, would take us from Atka to Umnak, where we intended to spend the winter of 1909-10, and at the end of April of that year Captain Applegate would take us back to Unalaska. As he usually spent the winter in Unalaska, starting in the spring for Umnak to take on his schooner the Umnak people and their skin boats in order to carry them to places where sea otters can be hunted; this would necessitate one special trip for our expedition. He was an educated man and was sympathetic toward our scientific work. Our pro¬ posed route included all the inhabited western Aleutian Islands, since we wished to combine excavations of old village sites with an investigation of the ethnology of the Aleut. To our regret, it was necessary to abandon our original plan* to excavate on the islands uninhabited at the time of our visit. The schooner expected in March by the Alaska Commercial Company did not arrive until June. We employed this period of waiting in a study of the Aleut lan¬ guage and in recording myths and tales. We could not leave Unalaska, even for a short trip, for fear of missing the schooner, thus losing the opportunity to visit the Aleut of the Alaska Peninsula or the Shumagin Islands. About the end of May the northern portions of Bering Sea became free of ice, and passenger vessels and freighters entered Unalaska Harbor on their way north. Many whalers also appeared, also a Department of Commerce and Labor steamer with freight for the Pribilof Islands. We were told then that the Alaska Commer¬ cial Company schooner was under construction at Kodiak, but no one knew when it would put to sea. Simultaneously, the revenue cutters, upon which we had counted to a certain extent for transportation, began to come into the harbor. As before stated, we had received permission from the Treasury Department to request trans¬ portation by the revenue cutters. The Bering Sea patrol fleet, a distinct part of the American Revenue Cutter Service, cruises in BeriTig Sea and in polar waters from June to the end of Septem¬ ber. During our stay in the Aleutians it consisted of five or six vessels of the gun¬ boat type. Three vessels were on duty to prevent pelagic sealing and other illicit activities of Japanese and other schooners. Two of them constantly cruised around the Pribilof Islands, while a third remained in Unalaska Harbor, each being on duty for 12 days with 6 days in port. A fourth cutter spent the summer in the polar ocean to protect and assist American whalers and trading vessels, while a fifth served to carry the members of the district court from place to place, to hear civil and crimi¬ nal cases outside the jurisdiction of the local commissioners, to hear appeals, and to defend the interests of the native population. 2 A sixth cruiser usually came to 2 The commanders of the revenue cutters have magisterial functions where there are no resident com¬ missioners. 16 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. Unalaska in the middle of the summer. Also, at the end of the summer, one cutter went westward as far as Attu, stopping at other inhabited islands en route. 3 The chief of the patrol fleet, Senior Captain William Jacobs, had his summer headquarters in Unalaska, whence he directed the fleet. Captain Jacobs informed us of his instructions to assist us. Everywhere we were rendered assistance by officials and others, but the most important service rendered the expedition came from Captain Jacobs. To make it possible for us to reach Attu he hastened the western cruise and on June 9, 1909, we left Unalaska on the revenue cutter Perry. Before our departure, Captain Jacobs informed us that at the end of July he expected the arrival of a new vessel, Tahoma, which, on its way to Unalaska from the west, would stop at Attu, and could then carry us to any other island on our schedule. He also promised that in the event of the failure of this cutter or the Alaska Commercial Company schooner, he would not abandon our party, but would send a cutter for us in the fall. The Perry was the smallest vessel in the Bering patrol fleet, with a tonnage of 456, and was under the command of Captain F. J. Haake. On the way to Attu we stopped at the village of Chernofski, on Unalaska, at Bogoslof Island, and at Atka, where we unloaded food, scientific instruments, and other equipment for work there after our return from Attu. We arrived at Attu, June 15, and landed in Chichagof Bay, at the winter village of the Attu Aleut. On the following day, Captain Haake, after obtaining information as to the Japanese schooners sailing past Attu to the east, started on the return cruise. After a few days we moved with the Aleut to their summer village on Sarana Bay. Our freight was transported in skin boats while we walked over the mountain ridge separating Chichagof from Sarana Bay. A description of our work at Sarana Bay will be given later. June and July passed and neither the expected schooner nor the Tahoma ap¬ peared ; we concluded that they would not come until the following year. The sup¬ plies in the local store had come to an end long ago, so at first we shared ours with the Aleut, but early in August these, too, began to run low. We hoped, of course, that we would be taken off the island in the fall, but were troubled by the thought that we might have to remain until the next year, and, though the threatened priva¬ tions gave us some concern, we were more concerned with the possibility of being unable to complete our work on the Aleutians. If the revenue cutter came for us in the fall it would be possible to winter on Umnak Island, a most significant place for our work, but we would have to omit Atka, a no less important station. When our anxiety had reached its climax and not only we, but the Aleut were aware of the serious state of affairs, an Aleut boy, early in the morning of August 8, ran down the mountain slope crying repeatedly, “ Steamer at Chichagof Bay! ” At first we were a little suspicious, since we had had our hopes aroused by similar cries before. However, we immediately ran over the ridge to Chichagof Bay and from the top of the mountain saw the smoke of a vessel in the harbor. 8 It is the duty of the commander of this cruiser to visit the volcanic island Bogoslof, to report on whatever changes may have occurred during the year. The Journey to the Aleutians. 17 It was the longed-for Tahoma, arriving from the Atlantic by way of the Suez Canal. Captain Quinan, its commander, had received a cable in Yokohama directing him to take our party off from Attu. Hearing that we were at Sarana Bay, Captain Quinan ordered the vessel there. In order to detain the steamer as little as possible, we spent the night packing, and early in the morning, accompanied by a choral song of the Aleut, praising our goodness, liberality, and other virtues, embarked on the revenue-cutter. What remained of our supplies we left to the Aleut and some of the Tahoma’s supplies were sold to them. The Tahoma reached Atka the evening of August io and lay at anchor outside the entrance of Nazan Bay, fearing to enter it on account of its shallow waters and reefs. After taking our mail and putting us ashore, Captain Quinan hurried away in order to reach Unalaska in the prescribed time. In the village we learned that the Alaska Commercial Company’s schooner Leti had left Unalaska for a western trip July io, reached Atka July 15, and left Atka for Attu July 18; 23 days had elapsed since that date and nothing had been heard of the schooner. During our passage from Attu to Atka we also had met with no vessel. We feared some accident. On August 19 the Leti returned to Atka, with its crew completely exhausted, not having reached Attu. Incessant contrary winds and gales had carried the schooner into the open sea and despairing of approaching Attu and fearing to be wrecked by the storm, after 32 days’ struggle with the elements they resolved to return to Atka. So, were it not for the courteous assistance of the Revenue Cutter Service our party would have shared the unlucky experience of the Lett’s crew. The Leti had brought from Unalaska our mail and other papers, also food and clothing forwarded by Mr. Brown, the school-teacher at Unalaska, for distribution among the Attu Aleut. 4 A letter came from Captain Applegate expressing his regret that he could not bring his schooner to Atka to carry us to Umnak. These events forced us to ask Captain Jacobs to transfer us from Atka to Umnak before the cut¬ ters left for the south. To our great delight the Bear appeared in Nazan Bay on September 14, back from a cruise in the polar ocean. The same day we were taken aboard and carried to Nikolskoye village on Umnak Island, where we remained until May 1910. The commander of the Bear, the late Captain Bertholf, 5 had visited Russia in 1901, when he obtained permission from the Russian Government to travel through Siberia to the district of Okhotsk to purchase reindeer for breeding in Alaska. This was, so far as we knew, the second exportation of domesticated Siberian reindeer to Alaska. In accordance with our request he stopped at Ka'gam-I'lan Island, where a cave containing a mummified body had been reported. Unfortunately, we did not find the cave, but later learned from the Umnak Aleut that we had actually been in its near vicinity. 4 Every summer American charitable institutions were in the habit of sending clothing and food for distri¬ bution among the Attu, the poorest and least provided for of all the Aleut. 5 Captain Bertholf plotted out a detailed chart of the routes of the vessels of the second Bering Expedition for F. A. Golder’s “ Bering’s Voyages,” published by the American Geographical Society, New York, 1922. # 18 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. We arrived at Umnak after Captain Applegate’s departure for Unalaska. All the hunters had returned home and the Umnak people, ioo in all, were present. Among them there waited the chief of the Unalaska village, Yachmenev, whom we had engaged as interpreter and who had been brought there by Captain Applegate. To complete this sketch of our trips among the Aleutian Islands, it may be added that we left Umnak on Applegate’s schooner May 3, 1910, and after a stormy passage, reached Unalaska May 5. About the end of May the vessels of the Bering Patrol Fleet again appeared, this time with a new commander, Senior Captain Foley, who permitted us to board the Perry to go to the Pribilof Islands; permission to land there had previously been secured from the Department of Commerce and Labor. After we had landed the Perry, while cruising around St. Paul Island in a fog, struck a reef and sank; fortunately, the crew reached the island safely. From the Pribilof Islands we returned to Unalaska on the Russian military transport Kolyma, under the command of Captain B. Kuzmin-Karavayef, which had been ordered from Vladivostok to carry our party and collections to Petropov- lovsk, Kamchatka. After various festivities arranged for each other by the Ameri¬ can and Russian naval officers and sailors, the Kolyma sailed for Kamchatka on July 26, 1910. We have intentionally dwelt in detail on the description of the difficulties encountered in traveling in the Aleutian Islands to make clear, that without the assistance of the revenue-cutters it would have been impossible to carry out our plans. Without this assistance we should have had to content ourselves with work on Unalaska and Umnak only. For any future investigations, archaeological, geological, or any others, 6 on the Aleutian Islands, it should be borne in mind that the explorer should have at his disposal a vessel more trustworthy than a sail or motor boat. The feeble motors of a boat are as impotent in the struggle with gales and storms as are sails. 7 We take this opportunity to express our gratitude for assistance in transpor¬ tation between the islands, for the kind attention and hospitality to the chiefs of the Bering Sea patrol fleet, the senior captains, William V. E. Jacobs and Daniel P. Foley; also to Ellsworth P. Bertholf, Frederick J. Haake, and Johnston H. Ouinan, the commanders of the Perry, Bear, and Tahoma, and the other officers of the vessels named. During our stay on the vessels we were placed in the commander’s cabin, our Aleut interpreter with the non-commissioned officers, and the Aleut laborers with the sailors. We are especially indebted to Senior Captain Jacobs and Captain Ouinan for their efforts in our behalf. 6 Much remains to be learned both of the (prehistoric) archaeology and the geology of the Aleutian Islands. In its studies in Alaska, the U. S. Geological Survey has had in view mainly practical ends. The observation of a volcanic chain may produce not only purely scientific data, but also some indications as to the volcanic activities of adjacent countries, and thus save life and property. 7 The geological expedition of Professor Jaggar left Seattle for the Aleutians on its own schooner, carrying a small motor-boat for the investigations of inner bays, on May 20, 1907, and returned to Seattle, September ix. The expedition lasted 3 months and 21 days, of which time 2 months were spent at sea and was time lost for scientific work. The passage from Seattle to Unalaska took 40 days, while it may be accomplished on a steamer in 5 days. (See T. A. Jaggar, jr., Journal of the Technology Expedition to the Aleutian Islands, 1907, Technology Review, vol. 10, No. x, Boston, 1908.) 19 The Journey to the Aleutians. NATURAL FEATURES OF THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. A detailed description of the Aleutian Islands had been planned for the ethno¬ graphic section of this report, but a brief summary of the natural features of the islands seems necessary here. For more than 800 miles the Aleutian Islands stretch out from the Alaskan peninsula in a long, bow-shaped chain of 70 treeless islands, excluding islets. All the islands are of volcanic origin, and are covered with high mountains, among which are extinct and still active volcanoes. According to the geologist Suess, they appear to be a continuation of the Alaskan range, though of a later formation. The shore-line is irregular, the rocky mountains sloping abruptly to the sea. The bays are shallow, full of reefs, and are dangerous for navigation. Though the vegetation is luxurious, it is limited to grasses, berry-bearing shrubs, creeping bushes, and varieties of low willows. On the mountain slopes we find an alpine vegetation and various species of mosses and lichens. In the narrow valleys between the mountain ridges or on isthmuses having insufficient drainage are fresh¬ water lakes with hummocky shores, such as characterize Siberian tundras. The only means of inland communication was by walking, but this was decidedly uncomfort¬ able on account of the tundra-like hummocks covered with sedge-grass. The absence of arboreal vegetation may be ascribed not to the climate, which is comparatively mild, but to the constant gales, fogs, and mists which are encountered in Aleutian waters, thus depriving the plants of much sunlight. climatic conditions. Meteorological observations, using a centigrade thermometer, were made three times daily. The following table gives the mean monthly temperature and shows the Aleutian climate as far from harsh: 1909 Place Mean temp. Max. temp. Min. temp. March. Unalaska . — 3-0 3-0 —10-5 April . Do . 1.7 6-5 —II .5 May. Do . 3-0 8.5 — 5-0 June 1 to 8. Do . 5 -i 8-5 2.0 June 23 to 30. Attu . 8.4 12-5 4-5 July . Do . 8-5 16.0 4.0 August 1 to 7.... Do . 8.1 II.O 6.0 August 11 to 31... Atka . 9.1 16.5 2.0 September I to 4.. Do . 7-8 12.0 2.0 September 19 to 30 U mnak ... 6.1 10.0 1.0 1909 Place Mean temp. Max. temp. Min. temp. October . Do . 5-1 8.0 — 2.0 November . Do . 2.1 6-5 — 5-5 December . Do . 0.1 4-5 — 9-5 1910 January . Do . — 0-5 5-0 — 9-5 February . Do . —2.7 3-0 —13.0 March . Do . —1.8 4.0 — 13-5 April . Do . — 0-3 5-5 — 8.0 May 6 to 17. Unalaska . 2.3 7.0 — 5-5 As may be noted, in some months observations were made on more than one island. This, of course, was because we did not remain long enough to complete our observations. But even where observations were recorded on different islands the mean temperature does not deviate to any great extent from the actual average. If we calculate the annual mean (taking the period from March 1, 1909, to March 1, 1910) we find it to be 3.9 0 , with a maximum of 16.5° (on the island of Atka, 20 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. August 12, 1909) and a minimum of —13.0 0 (on the island of Umnak, February 1, 1910). The lowest temperature noted during the 15 months of our observations, —13.5 0 , was on the island of Umnak, March 7, 1910. Thus, in the course of a year (from March 1, 1909, to February 28, 1910), for only 3 months (March, 1909, and January and February, 1910) was the mean temperature below zero and not one minus in the maxima. With regard to the temperature of the air, it may be said that there are only two seasons: a long autumn and a short, mild winter. But the incessant winds and gales cause the slightest cold to be felt, and in summer, particularly, the constant fogs hide the sun. Throughout our meteorological observations the sky appeared quite clear on only 9 days. CHAPTER III. EXCAVATIONS OF ANCIENT ALEUT VILLAGE SITES. KITCHEN-MIDDENS. Cultural processes are admittedly slow. Though, for a period of 120 years the Aleut were under the cultural influence of the Russians, who first visited the islands in 1741, they had not, at the time of the purchase of Alaska by the United States, become entirely Russianized. The adaptation and adoption of new manners and customs involved in the process went on gradually, but the “ civilizing ” process had not yet been completed. Be this as it may, the fact remains that 200 years ago the Aleut lived in the Stone Age. Everywhere in the Aleutian Islands are numerous depressions and deep cavities, the outward evidences of ancient underground dwellings. The depth of these sunken places is an index to their age; the less deep the depression the more remote is the time the sites were inhabited. In and about these the decay of the accumulated organic refuse of centuries has in the past and will in the future so fertilize the soil as to foster a luxuriant growth of native grasses, which in their turn add to the filling of the pits. Very often long-stemmed wild barley ( Elymus ), wild pea ( Lathy - rus maritimus), lupins, some grasses as tall as a man, and flower-like anemones, orchids, marguerites, and other flowers completely concealed the pits where the old dwellings once stood. Depressions concealed by these luxuriant growths were very often not discovered until we tumbled into them when walking. In the lower levels of these pits, in their turn, were to be found the remains of Aleut life before the arrival of the Russians, and the deeper the layers of kitchen refuse penetrate into the earth the older they are. Up to the time of our work, no systematic excavations, except those of Doctor Dali, 1 had been made on the Aleutians. Doctor Dali, however, carried on his archaeo¬ logical work only casually, in the hours of enforced leisure from his duties as director of the hydrographical and geographical investigation of the islands carried on under the auspices of the United States Coast Survey in 1870 to 1874; when work at sea was impossible because of stormy weather, he excavated wherever he happened to be. So owing to the casual character of Doctor Dali’s investigations, his conclusions as to the nature and development of the former Aleut culture were in need of verification by further excavations. It should be stated, however, that it was impossible for us to reach a full solution of the Aleutian archaeological prob¬ lem, as our excavations were necessarily confined to sites on the inhabited islands, while according to data gathered in the course of our work, perhaps still more inter¬ esting excavations could be conducted on islands no longer inhabited. Then, too, 1 Mention should be made here of the French ethnologist, A. Pinart, of whom we shall speak later, and of many curio hunters who ransacked the caves and other accessible ancient burial-places of the Aleut. 21 22 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. in view of the manifold aims of the expedition, only a small part of our time was devoted to archaeological work. * 2 At the same time it was important to examine as many village sites as possible, so that we had to limit ourselves to the excavation of only some of the pits on a site instead of examining all. These circumstances influenced the method of procedure. The ideal method would have been to dig a trench along one edge of the site until bed-rock or undisturbed soil was reached, thus uncovering a vertical wall of refuse for the whole site. This wall should then be photographed and measured. Then, by taking off horizontal layers, one after another, the outlines of individual habitations, fireplaces, and the stratigraphic order of the refuse would be revealed. But for such trenching and working out a whole village site many months would be needed. So, since time was an important factor, our excavations were limited to separate dwellings, and the following method adopted: first, to determine the depth, outlines, size, and direction of the pit, the grass was cut off and the site cleared. Then the pit was dug out at one side in terraces, the laborers on the lower steps passing the dirt to those on the upper ones, etc. In this way we uncovered a vertical wall opposite the terraces, showing all the strata of the pit. Digging proceeded until undisturbed soil, showing no trace of refuse, was reached. If this lowest layer consisted of soft sedimentary soil, digging was carried to a further depth of approximately 0.5 meter to ascertain that there was no deeper stratum of an older culture. After the vertical wall was examined, measured, and photographed, the terraces were dug out and the debris carefully sifted for implements, etc. When an archaeological specimen of any kind was dis¬ closed, note was taken of the depth at which it was found. If there was any doubt as to whether the specimen had been displaced in digging, a note was taken only of the number of the pit. The same procedure was followed with specimens found when sifting the soil. Ordinarily, two adjoining pits were dug simultaneously under the surveillance of the writer, Mrs. Jochelson, and the interpreter. In all, we excavated at 13 ancient village sites, investigated 57 pits of various sizes, 3 burial caves, and 3 other caves. If we estimate the average length of a pit as 56 feet, the average breadth as 35 feet, and the average depth as 14 feet, the debris moved from one pit would amount to 27,440 cubic feet and for 57 pits to 1,564,- 080 cubic feet. The excavations were made within a period of 47 days. Ancient village sites were pointed out to us by the Aleut, but for excavation we had to choose those most easily accessible; there being no riding or driving animals, we were confronted with the problem of transportation. It was necessary to walk to the places we chose to excavate; passage by skin boats was too slow 2a and too difficult, owing to the frequent 2 It may be added here that, according to the estimate in our original plans, only one year was to be devoted to the Aleut problem. Actually, the field-work on the Aleutians stretched over a period of 19 months, while the journey from Petrograd to Unalaska and the preparatory work occupied 3 months more. 2 a We preferred to cross narrow and long islands like Umnak by walking rather than to go in skin boats all around them. We speak here of small skin boats of the kayak type. The large type of skin boat, called by the Eskimo u'miak and by the Aleut nixa'lax ', is no more used by the Aleut on account of lack of skins of larger sea mammals. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 23 storms. Besides, the skin boats were incapable of transporting much freight. Thus, our Aleut assistants had to carry on their backs boxes containing food, cooking vessels, digging implements, instruments, tents, cameras, guns, clothing, and other supplies. On the return trip from an excavated site they carried stone and bone implements, skeletal remains, and other archaeological specimens. It was exceed¬ ingly difficult to transport heavy stone specimens like stone lamps; for that reason we abandoned all animal and bird bones excavated, taking note of them, however, since the Aleut laborers were able to identify them. With huge bundles and boxes on their backs, the laborers had to climb high mountains separating opposite coasts or one bay from another (plate 7, fig. 1). In some places, as for instance on Attu, while passing from Sarana to Lastova Bay (see map, fig. 1) we had to walk over a pass covered with snow-fields and glaciers. Here the Aleut walked barefooted to save their boots. Of the 47 days devoted to excavation, only 8 were dry and calm; the remainder of the time we worked in rainy and stormy weather, and the wind scattered the small particles of kitchen refuse. Diggings on the ancient village sites, Nanikax (Attu Island) and Ukix (Umnak Island), were left unfinished because of the inclement weather and resumed later. All the ancient Aleut villages were situated on the sea-shore, not on the high land above the sea, and usually on land between two bays, so that their skin boats could easily be carried from one body of water to another at the approach of foes. Thus the usual location of villages was on narrow isthmuses, on necks of land between two ridges, on promontories, or narrow sandbanks. An indispensable ad¬ junct to a village was a supply of easily accessible fresh water—a brook, fall, or lake. River-mouths were never used as permanent dwelling-places, because the topographical conditions were conducive to unexpected attacks. The underground dwellings of the old Aleut were much like traps; if an attack were made when the inhabitants were within, they could leave it alive only through the single opening in the roof. For this reason villages were built on open places, whence observations could be made far out to sea. Near every village was an observatory ( agi'sax ') on a hill where constant watch was kept. The sentry was called amgi'gnax\ Here, too, hunters watched for the appearance of sea-mammals, and in turn the people of the village watched for the return of the hunters, greeting them with songs and dances. At the time of our investigations the Aleut villages were situated mainly in valleys at the river-mouths, where they were settled by the Russian invaders. This change had some advantage, since, with the advent of the Russians, internal wars ceased; moreover, the Aleut were in a position to take advantage of the annual spawning migration of salmon, which they caught and dried in the summer for winter use. In ancient times the Aleut visited such rivers to catch salmon, but never had permanent villages on their banks; moreover, they caught sea-fish, chiefly hali¬ but, cod, and sculpin, from skin boats out on the open sea. 3 24 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. EXCAVATIONS ON ATTU. On Attu three village sites were excavated: first, the ancient village, Sin, situated within a half-mile of the present winter village on Chichagof Bay; second, near the present summer village on Sarana Bay; third, the site of the ancient village, Nanikax, on Lastova Bay (Aleut, Igu'lux '). (See map of Attu.) The most signifi¬ cant results were obtained from the excavations at Nanikax. The village site, Sin, and the pits on both banks of the river flowing into Sarana Bay seem to have been inhabited at a later period than Nanikax, which was on a small cape projecting into Lastova Bay. On the site of Nanikax were traces of 15 pits, of different sizes and not in any regular order. None of the pits observed here appeared to be of a size suitable for a so-called kashim, 3 a remark which may be applied to the two other village sites also. Lastova Bay is separated from Sarana Bay by a rocky promontory, with a pass at a height of 900 meters. The pits were oblong rectangles, some with rounded corners. Prior to digging, all the pits were about a meter in depth. At Nanikax 6 pits were excavated. Pit 1, with its longitudinal axis from east to west, was 8.7 meters long and 6 meters wide. Strata 3.5 meters deep contained shell and other refuse, and rested on a gravel-bed. The depth of the excavations was reckoned from the upper edge of the pit. Pit 2, with longitudinal axis extending northeast-southwest, was 8 meters long and 4.8 meters wide. Refuse strata extended to a depth of 3.8 meters on the northeastern side and 3.4 meters on the southwestern side. Pit 3 was located some¬ what nearer the sea on the slope of the hill. Its longitudinal axis also extended from northeast to southwest. It was 9.6 meters long and 6.8 wide. Refuse was found to a depth of 2.7 meters. Pit 4 was situated at the apex of the hill on which the village had stood and contained deeper layers of refuse. Its longitudinal axis was from northeast to southwest; its length 8.7 meters and its width 5.5 meters. The shell-heaps extended to a depth of 5 meters. A section of the northeastern wall 3 A special earth-hut of the Eskimo for gatherings, festivals, and dances. JOCHELSON PLATE 2 1. Venus petiti Desh. (Aleut, satma'yux'). 2. Saxidomus nuttali Conr. = Saxidomus squalidus Desh. (Aleut, imu'lux'). 3. Pecten sp. 4. Cardium sp. 5. Litorina sitchana Mid. (Aleut), cimka'yux')- 6. Acmaea patina Esch. (Aleut, ci'knax'). 7. Katharina tunicata Wood (Aleut, kasigux', Attu dialect, qasu'gix'). 8. Mytilus edulis L. (Aleut, hwa'yigix). 9. Triton cancellatus Lan. 10. Modiola modiolus L. (Aleut, cu'sux'). 11. Cardium nuttalli Conr. (Aleut, qama'kux'). 12. Mactra ponderosa Phil. s. ovalis Say (Aleut, ca'lax'). natural size. - ■ - Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 25 of the pit is shown on plate 4, fig. 2. The contents of the layers, with refuse from top to the bottom of the pit, were as follows: (1) 1.28 meters.—Mold, with plant-roots and mixed refuse. Bones of sea mammals prevailed, but bones of birds and fish, mollusk shells, and echini were also found. (2) 0.21 meter.—A layer of kitchen remains exclusively—bird and fish bones, and shells of echini. Echini predominated. (3) 0.21 meter.—Fat mold containing whale-bones. (4) 0.32 meter.—Pure kitchen remains—fish-bones, mollusk and echini shell. Echini predominated. (5) 0.12 meter.—Mold only. (6) 0.37 meter.—Layer of mollusk shells with a small admixture of echini and fish-bones. (7) 0.19 meter.—A layer of fish-bones and the lower jaw of a large whale. (8) 0.52 meter.—Fish-bones and shells of shellfish and echini. Shellfish and echini prevailed. (9) 0.92 meter.—A layer of fish-bones with a small admixture of shellfish and echini. (10) 0.62 meter.—A layer of fish-bones, shellfish, echini, and whale-bone. (11) 0.19 meter.—Shingle, like that of the seashore, and quite a little echini. Bones of the following sea mammals were found in this section: sea-otters (. Enhydris marina; Aleut ca'xtux '); a large species of seal ( Erignatus barbatus; Aleut, i'sux '); sea-lions ( Eumetopias stelleri; Aleut, qa'hwax ') ; and three species of whale. Unfortunately, two of these could not be identified. The Aleut call them agya'x, one of the largest whales, probably Balcena mysticetus; agama'xcix', a small whale, probably Balcenoptera velifera; hi'xtax'; the whale Ziphius, the oil of which is used for burning only and not for food, as it is a purgative. Guests whom the Aleut wished to deride were treated with fat of the Ziphius whale. The bird-bones found were: uriles or black cormorants ( Phalacrocorax urile; Aleut, agayu'x') ; Pacific eider ( Somateria v. nigrum Gray; Aleut, Attu dialect, cayu'sux', Unalaska dialect, sa'kux') ; Pacific gull ( Larus glaucescens Neum., Aleut, slu'kax '); guillemot ( Pseuduria columba Pallas; Aleut, si'minx' and si'blux') ; tufted puffin ( Lunda cirrhata; Aleut, ux'cux') ; petrel ( Synthliborramphus anti- quus Gmelin; Aleut, sa'tax' and qida'nax '); albatross ( Diomedea albatross Pallas; Aleut, agli'gax'); rosy finch ( Leucosticte tephrocotis; Aleut, qulgax' and uluga'- six'). The Aleut used the reddish down of the rosy finch to ornament their bird- skin parkas (shirt-like overcoats). The fish-bones were: Russian ter pug, a species of Cottoidse ( Hexagrammus; Aleut, sax), cod ( Gadus macrocephalus Til.; Aleut, atki'yax'), and halibut ( Hippo - glossus vulgaris; Aleut, ca'qix'). The mollusks were (see plate 2): Acmaea patina Esch. (Aleut, ciki'cax' and ci'knax'), Katharina tunicata Wood (Aleut, qasu'gix' and kasi'gux '), Litorina sitchana Mid. (Aleut, cimi'gix' and cimka'yux '), Modiola modiolus L. (Aleut, kyux' and cu'sux'), Mytilus edulis L. (Aleut, ma'yigix ' and hzva'yigix') , Mactra ponderosa Phil. s. ovalis Say (Aleut, ca'lax'), sea-urchin ( Strongylocentratus drcebachiensis Mull.; Aleut, agu'nax '). 4 According to my field-notes, the depths at which the specimens were found in Pit 4 are as follows: Layer 1, a bone needle (text-fig. 636), a comb (text-fig. 58), a small bone plate with holes (plate 26, fig. 21), a bone lamp (plate 20, fig. 7), a bone arrow-point (plate 25, fig. 9), a bone arrow-point (plate 24, fig. 43), a bone arrow- 4 Where two Aleut names are given, the first is in the Attu or western dialect and the second is in the Unalaska or eastern dialect. 26 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. point (plate 27, fig. 24), a marble stopper (text-fig. 105), a stone lamp (362). 5 Layer 3: a bone harpoon-head (plate 22, fig. 1). Layer 4: a bone carving of a whale (text-fig. 77). Layer 8: a bone arrow-point (plate 23, fig. 18). Layer 10: a stone spear-point (text-fig. 33). The last layer, 11: a bone lamp (plate 20, fig. 5). The contents of the various layers in Pits 1 to 3 were approximately the same as in Pit 4, although the order of the layers was not quite identical. Echini and mollusks predominated in the lower strata. Close to Pits 1 and 4, to their west and southwest respectively, were excavated two smaller pits in which kitchen refuse and skeletal remains were found. These small pits, separated from the large pits by walls 1.5 meters wide, were evidently for burial. Pit 6, the small pit near Pit 4, was 2.5 meters long and 1.9 meters wide. Here, at a depth of 1.5 meters, close to the wall, a skeleton (plate 11, fig. 1) was found. In other sections of this pit and at the same depth 8 more skeletons were uncovered. Four were crushed under the weight of a heavy whale-bone. In this pit, strata-bearing culture remains reached a depth of 3.4 meters. At a depth of 3.3 meters, a stone spear-point (416) was found. Two pits were excavated in the Sin village site: No. 1 was 11 meters long and 8.2 meters wide; No. 2 was 4.5 by 3.8 meters. In the latter were preserved all the whale-bones which had served as the ceiling frame (plate 7, fig. 3). In both pits specimens bearing layers containing bones of sea mammals, fish, mollusks, echini, and bone and stone implements reached a depth of a little over 2 meters. Though no objects showing Russian influence were found here, the writer is inclined to the opinion that the Aleut lived in Sin after the Russian advent. Kitchen remains were very meager, and these were mixed with earth. The village was situated on a moun¬ tain slope right over the sea, a location which would not have been chosen by the ancient Aleut. The site was occupied by a kitchen-garden where the Aleut had planted potatoes and turnips. Excavation of pits in the banks of the small river flowing into Sarana Bay, above the present summer village, bore similar results. On the right bank of the river, a pit was dug 13.4 meters long and 5.3 meters wide. Two smaller pits were excavated on the left bank; Pit A was 4.8 by 3.7 meters and Pit B was 6.8 by 5.4 meters and revealed few traces of kitchen refuse. Thin streaks of sea-urchins were disclosed, but no deeper than at about 1.5 meters. Doubtless the Aleut lived in these underground dwellings after the arrival of the Russians. The larger pit on the right bank of the river was evidently the remains of an earthen barrack-hut, in which Aleut men had lived when hunting under Russian direction. It has already been pointed out that the ancient Aleut did not settle in an inclosed bay or in river valleys. EXCAVATIONS ON ATKA. Two ancient village sites, Atxa'lax' and Hala'ca, were excavated on Atka; also, two burial caves, which will be described later, were examined. 6 The number in parenthesis gives the number of the specimen in the Ethnographical Division of the Rumiantzev Museum in Moscow. All unillustrated specimens are marked by such museum numbers. JOCHELSON PLATE 3 H N « Tf Excavations on Umnak Island. • Section of Pit 3 at Ukix village site, depth 2.5 meters. 5. Aleut laborers lunching in the depression formed by a former underground :. Section of Pit 2 at Aglagax village site, depth 6.5 meters. dwelling at Ugludax site. ,. Bones of whales amid kitchen refuse on the ancient village site, Aglagax. 6. Neck of land between the bay and a lake on which was located the Ugludax .. Excavation of Pit 2 at Ugludax village site at beginning of operations. site. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 27 Atxa'lax '.—This village site, according to the Aleut, was very ancient and was inhabited long before the arrival of the Russians. Before that time few Aleut lived on Atka, but Russian hunters transferred to Atka Aleut from the islands of Tanaga, Kanaga, and Adax. The site of the present village was selected by Russian hunters because of its protected position on Nazan Bay, which was cut off from Bering Sea by a semicircle of small islands and rocks. Atxa'lax' was situated on a promontory covering the entrance to the bay from the north and, with the nearest island, form¬ ing a narrow strait for the entrance into the bay. This passage, because of the reefs, is not navigable by ships (plate i, fig. i). Atxa'lax' was situated, not on the elevated rocky end of the promontory, but on the low, narrow middle portion about 25 feet above sea-level. On either side of this narrow section of the promontory are two small bays, one facing Nazan Bay, the other the open sea (plate 8, fig. 4); 25 depres¬ sions were noted on this site, all of moderate size, and some rather small. We succeeded in excavating only 2 pits on the Atxa'lax' site—a large one (A) and a much smaller one ( B ), side by side. We dug both pits simultaneously, with the expectation of digging out the wall separating them. The large pit was 8 by 5.5 meters and about a meter in depth before digging. The small pit to its south was 4 by 3 meters. The depth of the section of the large pit was 4.2 meters; the strata from the top down contained the following layers: (1) 0.85 meter.—Mold with roots and a mixture of kitchen refuse. The contents of the upper layers differed considerably from those at Attu, where bones of sea mammals predominated. Here there were fish-bones, mollusk-shells, and sea-urchin cuirasses. Of sea mammals there were the bones of small seals ( Phoca vitulina), sea-lions, sea-otters, and whales; of birds, bones of uriles, guillemot ( Uria lomvia arra; Aleut, saki’tax*) , and eiders; of fish, cod and halibut bones; of mollusks, shells of Mytilus edulis. (2) 0.2 meter.—Kitchen refuse without any admixture of earth: echini and shells of Mytilus edulis. (3) 1-55 meters.—Kitchen refuse mixed with earth. In this layer were found bones of seal, sea-otters, whales, puffins, uriles, guillemots, eiders, and bones of codfish and halibut. Shells of the following mollusks were found: Mactra ponderosa Phil, and Saxidomus nuttali Conr. Thin streaks of echini and Mytilus edulis also occurred. (4) 0.55 meter.—The layer consisted almost exclusively of kitchen refuse, mainly echini and shells of Mytilus edulis, among which were also found sea-otter and seal bones. (5) 0.9 meter.—A layer of mold which in former times was evidently the top soil. This contained a small admixture of miscellaneous kitchen refuse, containing echini, mollusks (in the same varieties as in the other layers) bones of fish and sea-mammals, especially seal. (6) 0.15 meter.'—Pure yellow sand. 28 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. The following objects were found at the depths indicated: at 2.4 meters, at the bottom of layer 3, half of the lower jaw of a large whale. It was 3.3 meters long and at its widest part was 0.6 meter. Both ends were rounded and polished smooth, and in the heavier end were two perforations made with a stone drill. These were evidently for tying the bone to a post, rafter, or another bone in the ceiling frame. On both sides and for its entire length the bone was grooved and nicely polished. Because of its weight it was impossible to remove the bone and the photograph taken of it turned out very poor. However, it is illustrated in plate 1, figure 2, where it can be seen near the tent in the general view of our excavations. Under the jaw were found some bone arrow-points and -a bone club for stunning small sea- mammals (767, 768, 769). At a depth of 3.4 meters, in the upper part of layer 5, were found a bone awl (plate 27, fig. 22), a flat stone frying-pan, a large stone lamp (plate 19, fig. 2), and the bone of a seal and a small whale. In the lower part of layer 5, at a depth of 4 meters, among the bones of cod-fish and sculpin, were found a stone for grinding colors (plate 19, fig. 4), a stone pestle (plate 17, fig. 19), pieces of ocher for paint, a stone frying-pan (1697, Aleut, cu'nlux '), a bone arrow-point, and a stone sinker (plate 18, fig. 1). The layers in the smaller pit followed approximately the same order as in the larger pit. In the upper mold layer, fish-bones and echini and mollusk shells pre¬ dominated. At a depth of 1.8 meters we found a broken human skull with its lower jaw and some decayed bones of the skeleton. Under these was a thin layer of clayey sand; below, at a depth of 2.1 meters, were the bones of a large whale. Under these, at a depth of 2.4 meters, was another human skull with the lower jaw. The upper jaw was entirely decayed. No other skeletal remains were found. It is possible that when the ceiling fell it tore the skull from the body and the rest of the skeleton lay somewhere outside the limits of our diggings; or the skull may have been a trophy of an enemy killed, since the ancient Aleut warriors used to bring home the head of a slain enemy, which they set up on a pole on the roof of their dwelling. Without doubt the bones of the large whale at one time formed the framework of the roof of the underground dwelling and the first skull belonged to a man of a generation later than that of the lower skull. In the same layer with the lower skull were found the bones of a sea-lion, a lamp made of diabase porphyrite (788), the outer side smoothly polished, and half of an unbaked clay lamp (781), which fell to pieces when touched. This was the only trace of Aleut pottery. At a depth of 2.5 meters were bones of sea-lions, sea- otters, seals, and a small whale (Aleut, ci'dax '). Among these were fragments of ornamental bone-arrows, a narrow bone foreshaft of a drill, and stone frying-pans burned by fire. Halaca Village .—This site was situated on a rocky promontory composed of conglomerate. The promontory lies on the southeastern side of the island, over¬ looking the strait separating Atka from Amlia. The village was situated 20 meters above sea-level. Jutting out from the rocky end of the promontory, the island formed an isthmus 8 to 10 meters high, with small bays on either side, north and JOCHELSON PLATE 4 i. Drying skulls and other human bones uncovered by- excavations on Umnak Island. In the sacks is the party’s coal supply in preparation for wintering on the Island. 2. Section of Pit 4 of Nanikax site, Attu Island. Depth 5 m. 3. Section of Pit 2 , Ukix Site, Umnak Island. Depth 3-3 m. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 29 south. In short, this promontory represents a typical site for an old Aleut village. From its rocky extremity one could look far out to sea and in case of danger the skin boats could be readily carried from one bay to the other. Generally, however, villages were not situated on the high, rocky extremity of a promontory, but on the low isthmus, as was the case with Atxa'lax' on the island of Atka and Nani'kax' on Attu. All the evidence pointed to the fact that Halaca was an old site, but judging from the small quantity of kitchen refuse found and the absence of human bones, with the exception of the lower jaw of a child, it may be inferred that Halaca was a summer village and probably a summer resort for the inhabitants of Atxalax, an hour’s journey in a skin boat. This fact may also explain why the excavations in Atxalax and the examination of nearby caves yielded so large a quantity of skeletal remains. This supposition that Halaca was only a summer resort may also be cor¬ roborated by its situation on the high rocky extremity of the promontory, fully exposed to the stormy winds, which, however, were less violent during the summer. In Halaca there were only 8 large pits. The largest was excavated; its length was io meters and its width 6.8 meters. Its longitudinal axis was northeast. The depth of the pit before digging was i meter; depth of section 3.5 meters. Layers bearing remains were as follows: (1) 1.2 meters.—Fat clayey mold containing plant roots. .Scant remains of kitchen refuse. In the upper part of the layer were bones of sea-lions, sea-otters, seals, and albatross, pieces of burned wood, flat stone frying-pans, a stone knife, and stone arrow-heads (830, 831, 832, and 834). In the lower part of the layer were shells of Mytilus edulis, echini, bones of cod-fish, some bones of sea-otters, seals, and bones of a large whale, much decayed. (2) 0.4 meter.—Very little earth and much kitchen refuse: shells of echini, Mytilus edulis and Acmeea patina, and fish and bird bones. Among these were found an awl made of an albatross wing-bone, a bone harpoon-foreshaft, and many bird bones for making needles. (3) x meter.—Fat clayey earth. The kitchen refuse consisted chiefly of cod-bones, echini and Mytilus edulis shells, the partially burnt jaw of a whale, a bone needle-case, and a stone knife. (4) 0.1 meter.—A layer of mold containing bones of seals, sea-lions, and cod-fish, and shells of Mytilus edulis, and echini. (5) 0.2 meter.—A layer of pure kitchen refuse, without earth, consisting chiefly of echini shells, Mytilus edulis, and fish-bones. (6) 0.4 meter.—A layer of mold containing a small quantity of bones of cod, albatross, and seals. (7) 0.2 meter.—A layer of yellow clay without any trace of cultural remains. No lamps t>r fish-hook sinkers were found in this pit and other objects also were scarce. Besides the 8 large pits, there were io small round ones. They were not situ¬ ated in a certain order, but were found chiefly on the upper part of the hill-slope. Three of these small pits were excavated; they were 1.5 meters in diameter. Excavation of 2 of the pits yielded nothing, while in the third, at a depth of 2 feet, we found a small layer of echini. These small pits very likely served for storing food supplies. EXCAVATIONS ON THE ISLAND OF UMNAK. On Umnak four ancient village sites were excavated: Agla'gax', Nutxa'kax', U'kix', and Uglu'dax' (see map). Agla'gax '.—Agla'gax' was situated about 20 miles to the south of the present village of Nikolskoye. To reach this site from Nikolskoye, it was necessary to pass 30 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. over a promontory, near the old village site of Nutxa'kax', where a summer hut of the Aleut Shepetin was located, and then from there to proceed south along the coast, to cross a lofty hill on a high promontory to the southwest, and thus approach the coast within sight of the Four Crater Islands. From here we walked for 2 hours along the coast on a sandy beach to a small bay, where, on a high promontory, the village of Agla'gax' was situated. We found traces of two villages, the lower one situated 15 meters above sea-level, the upper 5 meters higher, at the top of the hill. Agla'gax' village was situated on the narrowest part of Umnak Island and only 4 miles from its southern extremity, which is separated from Samalga Island by a strait. From the high hill on which the village site is situated can be seen the waters of Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Below the lower village, the entire low and narrow part of the promontory is marshy tundra whose waters form a lake, sepa¬ rated from the sea only by a small rampart, 20 to 25 fathoms wide. This lake was the only source of fresh water for the inhabitants of the village. It is difficult to determine the relative ages of these two villages. Very likely, at one period, the villages were occupied simultaneously, but apparently the lower village was still inhabited after the coming of the Russians, since in the upper layers excavated were found objects of Russian origin. In both villages we excavated 4 large and 8 small pits called ula'kax\ i. e ., burial huts. O11 the upper village site were 8 large and 10 small pits. The large pit (No. 2) yielded the deepest section containing cultural remains; it was 12 meters long and 9.5 meters wide, and before digging was 1.3 meters deep. Its longitudinal axis was from northeast to southwest, while the height of the shaft was 6.5 meters (plate 3, fig. 2). The cultural layers from the upper edge of the pit to the undisturbed soil were as follows: JOCHELSON PLATE 5 Excavations on Umnak Island. Section of Pit 3, Ugludax Site. Depth, 2.1 meters. 2. Section of Pit 1, Ukix Site. Depth, 2.3 meters. 3. Section of Pit 1, Ugludax Site. Depth, 3.3 meters. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 31 (x) 0.3 meter.—A layer of mold containing scant kitchen refuse or other remains. (2) 0.85 meter.—A layer of pure kitchen refuse in which echini predominated. There was also a small quan¬ tity of mollusk shells ( Acmcea patina and Mytilus edulis ) and bird-bones. (3) 1.2 meters.—A layer of kitchen refuse intermingled with earth, in which a skeleton was found (see Chapter IV). Under the skeleton, in the lower part of the layer, were found the bones of a large whale which had served as the ceiling frame; from this we may conclude that the skeleton belonged to a later generation than the inhabitants of the dwelling of which parts of the bone ceiling were found. (4) 0.75 meter.—A layer of fat mold evidently due to the decay of organic substances. This contained many rotted whale-bones which crumbled to pieces when handled. In some places the putrified whale¬ bones looked like yellow sand. Much better preserved were the bones of sea-otters found in the same layer. (5) 0.06 meter.—A thin layer of sea-urchin shells. (6) 0.25 meter.—A layer of mold containing some trace of kitchen refuse, with the bones of sea-otters and of the large whale ( Balcena sieboldii, the Pacific right whale, Aleut, kula'max '), predominated. (7) 0-75 meter.—A layer of kitchen refuse with very little earth. Fish bones and mollusk shells predominated, but there were also echini shells, bird-bones, and other animal bones. The bottom of this layer was composed of the vertebrae of the Pacific right-whale and sea-lion bones. (8) 0.9 meter.—An earth layer containing kitchen refuse. There were very few echini, the bones of sea- mammals predominating, chiefly those of sea-otters ( Callorhinus ursinus; Aleut, laku'dax'). (9) 0.6 meter.—A layer of the same character as Pit. 8. In the right corner was a heap of mollusk shells ( Acnuza patina Esch. and Litorina sitchana Desh.) 0.4 meter thick. Bones of a small whale were found in the lower part of the layer. (10) 0.6 meter.—A layer containing bones of the bowhead whale ( Balcena mysticetus; Aleut, ugama'xcax ') and a few echini shells. In the right angle of this layer, kitchen refuse was more evident than at the front of the shaft. Here were found mollusk and echini shells and bones of fish and birds in equal quantity. Of bird-bones, those of uriles were most prominent. Some parts of this layer consisted of pure kitchen refuse, while others were kitchen refuse intermixed with earth. (11) 0.25 meter.—A layer of pure sand with no trace of human refuse. In this pit, aside from the skeleton which will be referred to later, there were found 80 objects. For the following, the depth at which they were found could be ascertained. Near the skeleton, in layer 3, a marble labret (fig. 84), a bone labret (fig. 87), an arrow-head of andesitic obsidian (plate 15, fig. 21), two bone prongs of a bird-dart (plate 24, figs. 41, 42), a stone carving of a whale (fig. 80), a whet¬ stone (1003), bone dart-prongs (1002, 1004), a bone tool for chipping stone (fig. 41a). In layer 4 were found a stone lamp (1639), a bone lamp (plate 20, fig. 2), a bone needle (plate 28, fig. 21), and a bone dart-prong barbed on one side only (1362). A bone scraper (1680) was found in layer 6, while in layer 7 were found a bone wedge and a bone head of a fish-spear (1028). A stone dart-head (plate 15, fig. 22) and a bone section of a throwing-lance (plate 26, fig. 42) were found in layer 8. In the ninth layer a bone root-digger was found (plate 26, fig. 1). In the last or tenth layer were found a bone head for a fishing-spear (plate 24, fig. 51), two bone awls (1031, 1032), a bone scraper (1070), a bone prong of a bird-dart (plate 24, fig. 40), the curved head and base of a bone fish-hook (plate 25, fig. 48 and No. 1073), and a whetstone for sharpening bone awls and needles (fig. 38). On the slope of the hill leading to the lower village we dug a pit (No. 3), 10 by 7.9 meters. The depth of the shaft was 4.5 meters. A model of a part of this pit— its northeastern side from the upper edge to a depth of 1.9 meters, where the skele¬ ton was found—is now on exhibition in the Ethnographical Division of the Rumian- zev Museum in Moscow. Materials for the model, dry kitchen-refuse together with the specimens excavated, were obtained on the spot. The model was constructed in natural size by the sculptor P. P. Kamensky; a photograph is shown in plate 10. As will be seen, the layers have been lettered. They contain the following remains: 32 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. (1) Mold, containing plant-roots and other organic remains. (2) A mixed layer of fish-bones and echini and mol- lusk shells. (3) Fish-bones. (4) Echini and mollusks. (5) Fish-bones (in the right corner of the section). (6) Echini. (7) A thin layer of mold containing no refuse. (8) Echini. (9) Fish-bones and echini shells. (10) Echini and mollusk shells and fish-bones; the skeleton in a squatting position. Beneath the skeleton were found many bones of cod and halibut and a few echini shells. Bones of birds and sea-mammals were scattered throughout all the layers down to the undisturbed soil. Among the implements found were many bone wedges, and at a depth of 4.3 meters, where the yellow sand began to appear, a small stone lamp was uncovered. In the upper village, besides Pits 2 and 3, three ula'kax' were excavated in which were found skeletons to be described later. Six pits were excavated in the lower village—a small pit in which whale-bones were set up in cone-shape stood, a large pit, and 4 small ones. Pit 1, which contained the cone of whale-bones, was the first excavated. However, we abandoned this place and turned to the excavation of the upper village, and after completing our work there returned to Pit 1. The whale-bone cone stood on the edge of the pit, with earth covering the lower ends of the bones to about 1.55 meters of their length. The best-preserved piece was found to be 2.7 meters long. The conical framework of whale-bone was strongly reminiscent of a Yukaghir tent- frame ; however, these had not served as the framework for a ceiling, but had been stacked for future use in building. Since they had not been used for a long time, their lower ends were covered with earth and refuse (plate 3, fig. 3). The bones were the lower jaws of large whales and had been prepared, as usual for rafters and beams, by perforating the ends for tying together, polishing, and decorating the sides with grooved channels. After the removal of the whale-jaws, we proceeded with the excavation of Pit 1. Strata bearing cultural remains were uncovered to a depth of 3.6 meters, at which depth we found undisturbed soil, a pure clayey sand. As was the case with Pit 2, in the various layers of Pit 1 we found bones of sea-mammals intermingled with other refuse, which in this pit consisted mainly of bird and fish bones and echini and mollusks. Eight pits, the largest seen at any of the ancient village sites examined, were found at the lower Aglagax village. Of these, 3 large pits were of the same size. One excavated, Pit 4, was 29.9 by 10.7 meters, with its longitudinal axis from north¬ east to southwest. It is possible that these depressions were the remains of large dwellings constructed after the advent of the Russians, who very often segregated parties of Aleut hunters in one of these dwellings called caserns. Yet, on the other hand, excavation of this pit revealed culture-layers to a depth of 4.3 meters, which might be regarded as evidence of the great age of the site. But it should be added that the section did not reveal any considerable layers of kitchen-refuse or other remains. There were very few echini, and these were in thin strata; neither were there many bones of birds or sea mammals and these were mingled in fat earth. JOCHELSON PLATE 6 i. Section of pit at ancient village site Xatacxan, Amaknax Island. Depth. 5.1 meters. 2 to 5. Parts of section of Pit 1 of Ugludax site, Umnak Island, showing echini and mollusk shells. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 33 More numerous were the bones of cod and halibut Only 20 objects of stone or bone were found, and in the uppermost layer a fragment of a porcelain cup, evidently Russian, was uncovered. The small pits, almost circular in form, which were supposed to be ula'kax', i. e., burial-lodges, contained no skeletal remains. Kitchen refuse, too, was very meager. In one were found glass beads and pieces of brass, while in another a bone post driven into the earth had been notched with an iron ax. Obviously, these small pits were the remains of dwellings of a later period. Nutxa'kax ' Village .—On our return to Nikolskoye village, where we had our headquarters on Umnak, we stopped at the ancient site at Nutxa'kax' (see map of Umnak Island). On the sea-coast there was then an earth lodge in which the Aleut, Mark Shepetin, lived. Not far from this lodge was a small river which provided fresh water for the village. The ancient village was situated above Shepetin’s lodge, on a hill 20 meters above sea-level. There were no large depressions, and we were told that the pits were of ula'kax', or burial lodges. In old times, one or two families had evidently lived here, and the pits were often changed, or else the village was inhabited only during part of the year. There were 15 pits in all, for the most part burial lodges, to judge from their size. Refuse in these depressions reached no great depth. Two larger pits, evidently the remains of dwellings, and 4 of smaller size, supposedly the remains of burial lodges, were excavated. Strata bearing remains reached only to a depth of 1.5 meters in Pit 1. The upper layer of mold contained only a small amount of mixed kitchen refuse. The second layer consisted of fish-bones; the third, of mixed refuse; the fourth of fish¬ bones; the fifth of mixed refuse. The prevalence of fish-bones may serve to prove that the settlement was for summer only, since fish formed the most important item in the summer diet. Pit 2 was excavated to a depth of 2 meters, but remains were found only to a depth of 1.8 meters. The layers followed almost the same order as those in Pit 1. Along the southern wall of the pit, at a depth of 1.2 meters, were found 6 skeletons. (See Chapter IV.) Four of the so-called ula'kax' were excavated. In one, nothing was found; evidently, it had not been a burial place and may possibly have been a food-storage pit. In the remaining 3 ula'kax', fragments of skeletons were found. Ukix Village .—Like the present village of Nikolskoye, the site of Ukix was situated on the southwestern part of Umnak, a 4 hours’ walk from Nikolskoye to the northeast. Two trails lead from Nikolskoye to Ukix; the shorter one passes over high hills, the longer is more winding and is nearer the coast. The village was situated 15 meters above sea-level, on a hill overlooking a small bay, and departs from the usual ancient Aleut custom of locating a village between two bays. Fresh water was obtainable from a lake lying at the foot of the hill on which the village stood. At the time of our examination, the Aleut Ivan Cherkashin had a winter earth-lodge at this place, where he spent the months of November to January hunt¬ ing foxes. When the weather is favorable he fishes in the sea from his boat. 34 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. At this site we found traces of 14 dwellings. In the course of time some of the pits had been so filled and leveled that the depressions in the middle and elevations along the edges were scarcely perceptible. As noted at other ancient sites, neither the size nor the form of the depressions were similar. Some of the pits were oblong, while others were almost circular. As has been stated before, the present Aleut assert that the ancient Aleut had no separate kashims , 8 as do the Eskimo. Among the larger pits were three oblong depressions of almost the same size. The largest of these three (Pit 3) was excavated. In all, 3 large and 5 small pits, which could be regarded as ula'kax', were excavated at Ukix. The excavations here disclosed only shallow culture-layers; at a depth of 7 or 8 feet, undisturbed soil, bearing no evidences of human activities, was reached. Nevertheless, it can not be said that Ukix belonged to a later period than did the sites where deeper relic-bearing layers were found. The slight depression of the pits before excavation, bears witness of their old age. All the layers contained bones of birds and sea-mammals scattered amongst echini and mollusks and fish-bones. Some of the larger pits had supplementary circular depressions at the side which may have served as kitchens, caches, sleeping-rooms, or hiding-places for women and children in case of attack. On the western part of the site, Pit 1 was excavated to a depth of 2.3 meters. The middle of the section of the southeastern wall is shown in plate 5, fig. 2. On this side culture remains reached a depth of only 2 meters. The contents of the layers were as follows: (1) 0.5 meter.—Mold intermingled with plant-roots and a small quantity of kitchen refuse. (2) 0.1 meter.—Kitchen refuse and a thin layer of mold. The refuse consisted chiefly of cod and halibut bones and shells of mollusks (Acmaea patina and Mytilus edulis ) and echini. (3) 0.36 meter.—Mixed kitchen refuse with fish-bones predominating. Separated by a narrow wall from Pit 1 was Pit 2. A section of the north¬ western wall is shown in plate 3, figure 1 and plate 4, figure 3. The skeletal finds in these pits will be discussed later (Chapter IV). Specimen-bearing strata in Pit 2 were as follows: (4) 0.2 meter.—Earth containing a small quantity of kitchen refuse. (5) 0.31 meter.—Echini, mollusca, and fish-bones, with a slight admixture of earth. (6) 0.25 meter.—Yellow sand, containing no speci¬ mens. (7) 0.08 meter.—The beginning of a layer of gravel. (1) 0.85 meter.—Mold containing a small quantity of fish and sea-mammal bones. (2) 0.2 meter.—Fish-bones. (3) 0.06 meter.—Echini. (4) 0.25 meter.—Mold, intermingled with bones of birds and sea-mammals. (5) 0.65 meter.—Echini, mollusks, fish, and bird bones. (6) 0.9 meter.—A narrow strip of mold. (7) 0.3 meter.—Pure yellow sand. (8) 0.1 meter.—Small waterworn pebbles, which evi¬ dently had been covered by the sea at some earlier period. From the above it appears that this refuse heap had a depth of only 2.1 meters. Of the 5 small depressions, 2 (Nos. 1 and 4), revealed no traces of refuse. It is difficult to explain the use of these pits; they may possibly have served for storing food. The small pits, Nos. 2 and 5, appear to have been burial lodges. Pit 3 con¬ tained no skeletal remains, but in one of its walls were found bones of whales, echini, mollusks, and fish-bones, as in the large pits. 6 Special large houses for gatherings, festivals, and dancing. JOCHELSON PLATE 7 . Members of the expedition and Aleut laborers crossing a mountain ridge on Attu Island. 4. A cave on a small island called Kixsin in Chichagov Bay, Camp at a village site, Attu Island. Attu Island. !. Beginning excavation of a pit at Sin village site, Attu Island. The frame of the roof is 5. Goltzef Bay, Attu Island, of whalebone. 6. A cave in Goltzef Bay. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 35 A large oblong pit (No. 3) was 12.9 meters long and 6.7 meters wide, with its longitudinal axis from west to east. It was excavated to a depth of 7 feet, until yellow sand was reached. Kitchen refuse turned up sporadically. Below the yellow sand layer, near the western wall, were several pits 1 foot in diameter and about 3 feet deep. These depressions were covered with flat stones and had evidently served as storage places for edible roots, since in one were found the half-decayed roots of Polygonum viviparum and Fritillaria kamtschatica (Aleut, qugcu'dax ' and alu'- gax '). In the middle of the longitudinal axis we found a quantity of charcoal, possibly the remains of a fireplace under the entrance-hole in the roof, although the ancient Aleut did not heat their living rooms and food was cooked in separate earth lodges. It is worthy of note that among the objects found in Pit 3 were 14 stone lamps which may have served to light the separate family compartments or for the general illumination of the dwelling during social festivities or contests. Uglu'dax'. —Uglu'dax' is situated to the south-southwest of the village of Nikolskoye. The territory between Nikolskoye and Uglu'dax' is occupied by three lakes, separated from one another by narrow necks of land, about 125 paces each, and connected by small streams. Beyond these lakes, to the south, is a whole series of lakes, rising one above the other in terraces, each successively draining into the other, until the Nikolskoye village lake is reached. This lake empties directly into the sea by a small rivulet. Uglu'dax' is on the isthmus between the third and fourth lakes, counting from the sea, and turning to the northwest (see map). The inhabi¬ tants of this village procured fresh water from the lake, which was 16 meters above sea-level. The Aleut informed us that Uglu'dax' was an “ odinochka,” 7 i. e., a dwell¬ ing for one or two families. Possibly a few families lived here for a part of the year. At the time of our visit the site was not occupied; according to the Aleut, this was not the case when the Russians arrived. Still there are traces of kitchen-gardens made under the tutelage of the Russians. The present-day Aleut plant potatoes and turnips far away from the present dwellings on ancient village sites. However, in the excavation of this village site no traces of iron implements or other objects of Russian origin were found; all our finds belonged to the Stone Age. Though it is true that no deep refuse sections were found at Uglu'dax', it does not necessarily follow that the site was later than others with sections of greater depth. It is quite possible the village was abandoned in olden times. Some sections con¬ tained deeper layers of echini and mollusk shells than ever before noted by the writer. This may point to the fact that the village was inhabited only during the seasons when the chief food consisted of mollusks and sea-urchins. Four pits were excavated in Uglu'dax'. Pit 1 was 16.8 meters by 6.7 meters, with its longitudinal axis from northwest to southeast. In the section at the north¬ western wall were found 2 skeletons. The trench was dug to a depth of 3.3 meters (plate 5, fig. 3). 7 A Russian word meaning single, sole, person living in solitude. 36 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. The strata from the top down contained the following: (1) 1.1 meters.—Mold with a small quantity of mixed refuse. (2) 0.3 meter.—Fish-bones and mollusk and echini shells without any admixture of earth. (3) 0.15 meter.—Fish-bones only. (4) 0.1 meter.—Fish-bones and mollusk and echini shells. (5) 0.07 meter.—Fish-bones. (6) 1.4 meters.—A compact layer of kitchen refuse, chiefly shells of mollusks and echini. The mollusks were intermingled with the echini, while in some spots mollusks and fish-bones formed distinct narrow layers. Scattered throughout the whole were bones of sea mammals and birds. In two spots narrow layers of mold were found containing decayed organic matter, but sea-urchins predominated in the entire layer. In plate 6, figures 2 to 5, are shown different parts of layer 6. Figure 2 shows a strip of shells of the mollusk Acmcea patina Esch., in the middle of a layer of echini and fish-bones. Figure 3 shows a pure stratum of echini, while in figure 4 may be seen a dark strip of cod and halibut bones in the midst of a heap of echini. There were also some bones of seals and sea-otters. Figure 5 shows a layer of mixed refuse, in which echini and mollusks predominated. (7) 0.18 meter.—An undisturbed layer of brownish clay. Stone and bone implements were found at various depths, as follows: 0.7 meter.—Bone nose-pendant (text-fig. 99) ; stone arrow-point (1547) ; vertebra of a shark (text-fig. 104b) ; 2 bone fish-hooks (plate 25, figs. 46 and 47) ; bone harpoon-head (plate 24, fig. 29). 0.9 meter.—Bone head of a throwing dart (plate 24, fig. 26) ; bone buckle (text-fig. 102) ; head of bone lance for catching sculpin (1526). 1.53 meters.—Two stone knives (plate 15, figs. 32 and 38) ; stone adze (plate 15, fig. 25). 2.50 meters.—Large stone knife (plate 15, fig. 6) ; bone wedge (1556) ; 2 spoons, one of reindeer antler, the other of the chest-bone of an urile (plate 26, figs. 10 and 20) ; 2 stone sinkers (plate 17, figs. 8 and 20). 2.75 meters.—Bones of a sea-lion and charcoal. At a depth of 3.1 meters, 2 labrets (figs. 85 and 92c) were found in the lower part of layer 6 in a heap of sea-urchin shells. Pit 2, on the slope of the hill, also yielded culture remains, but to a lesser depth. At 1.52 meters the undisturbed soil, a brown clay, without any trace of kitchen refuse, appeared. The refuse consisted of intermingled shells of echini, fish-bones, bird-bones, and a small quantity of bones of sea mammals. In the middle of the section was a narrow layer consisting of shells of echini and mollusks only. Pit 3 was at the side of No. 1 and was of the same size. Only the northwestern wall was excavated, and the following layers were uncovered: (1) 0.54 meter.—A layer of mold, including a small quantity of kitchen refuse. (2) 0.35 meter.—A layer of fish-bones. (3) 0.58 meter.—Kitchen refuse, without earth, and chiefly echini, mollusks, and fish-bones. (4) 0.16 meter.—A layer of mold. (5) 0.05 meter.—A layer of echini. (6) 0.42 meter.—Primeval soil, clayey earth. Among the shells of echini in layers 3 and 5 were found the decayed bones of sea-mammals which disintegrated when touched. Pit 4 was dug to a depth of 2.7 meters; strata containing remains reached a depth of 2.55 meters. The strata were as follows: (1) 0.5 meter.—Mold with a small quantity of echini, mollusks, and fish-bones. (2) 0.13 meter.—A layer of compact refuse consisting of fish-bones and shells of echini. Also a small quantity of mollusk shells. (3) 0.38 meter.—Mold and a large quantity of echini, mollusks, and fish-bones. (4) 0.6 meter.—Refuse as in preceding layer, but less earth and more shells of Litorina sitchana and lamellae of the chiton Katherina tunicata. (5) 0.1 meter.—A compact layer of kitchen refuse, consisting of echini and shells of mol¬ lusks, Aetna a patina, Mytilus edulis and Venus petiti, and of a small quantity of fish-bones. (6) 0.87 meter.—Mollusks, echini, and fish-bones and narrow layers of mold. (7) 0.12 meter.—A layer of brownish clay without any refuse. In all the above layers were found a small quantity of bones of birds, seals, and whales. A decayed skeleton, whose skull fell to pieces, was found at a depth of 1.3 meters. Before digging, the edges of the pit were barely visible, from which we may conclude the site to be an old one. JOCHELSON PLATE 8 -o o3 Cr, 03 U "O 03 qj bo 03 03 r'' X 4-» < .5 *6 QJ c be 03 03 r- o3 > -*-» X JS .qj o3 *G X r* o3 (73 03 B 03 b/3 CJ X > QJ O QJ u- £ QJ O Vh qj a; (A u c O "O' M—( QJ cO £ 2S qj C/3 H-i - 2 __ 03 03 c/3 QJ < ►—i a3 ID C/3 QJ *-*-< .O < o m X X 13 jb o > o a CO £ X X 4-* QJ c < l—i u u Vh QJ 03 QJ o3 QJ 4-> cO *”• *" H Cq > > 03 03 03 CJ CJ CJ , 1 ,__ .—< .2 .2 .2 *2 *2 *2 o cq PQ CQ t—i oi CO »» Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 37 EXCAVATIONS ON AMAKNAX ISLAND. Amaknax Island is situated in Unalaska Bay, with its southern extremity approaching Captain Cove. It consists of 4 rocky mountains, separated by 3 low and narrow valleys; the latter evidently rose from the sea at a later date, connecting the 4 volcanic rocks and forming an island. The northernmost is a conical mountain 1,640 feet high, sloping abruptly to the sea. The low land between the rocky heights of the island afforded very suitable places for settleiments. At the time of our visit, Amaknax Island was uninhabited, except for the storehouses and houses for the employes of the North American Commercial Company at Dutch Harbor. Early Unalaska Bay in the nineteenth century, in the time of Weniaminoff, the Aleut settlements had already been abandoned. Three ancient village sites were excavated; two of them, Xatacxan and Amaknax, were located on the middle isthmus of the island, and the third, Tanaxtaxax, was in the northeastern part of the island, at the bottom of a long, narrow, sandy neck of land, separating Dutch Harbor from Unalaska or Iliuliuk Bay (see text-fig. 4). According to Weniaminoff, there were three Aleut villages on Amaknax Island before the arrival of the Russians, 8 but he neither names nor locates them, so we do not know whether the villages excavated are those mentioned by Weniaminoff 8 Rev. J. Weniaminoff, Notes on the Islands of the Unalaska District, St. Petersburg, 1840, part 1, p. 188 (in Russian). 38 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. or whether more than 3 villages were ever in existence on Amaknax. The Unalaska Aleut informed us that the sites excavated by us were very ancient. When excavating on Amaknax we had our headquarters on Unalaska and traveled back and forth in a motor-boat. Amaknax Village Site. —Amaknax was evidently a small village. It was approximately a mile from another old village, Xatacxan. The site, bearing the name of the island, Amaknax, was situated on a hill about 12 feet above sea-level. One large and three small pits were excavated. The large depression was 19.5 meters long, 7 meters wide, and about 1 meter deep before excavation. Its longi¬ tudinal axis lay from northeast to southwest. The specimen-bearing layer was not thick. The pit was dug out to a depth of 3 meters, though the refuse reached a depth of only 2.4 meters, beneath which was a stratum of compact gray clay. Sectioning of this pit revealed some peculiarities, but our finding in no way cor¬ respond to Doctor Dali’s description of succeeding layers, as noted by him in his diggings on the island. (See Chapter VI.) The clayey earth was so hard that before digging with spades it had to be broken up with picks. Kitchen refuse in irregular layers appeared. There were few echini and many mollusks, chiefly Mytilus edulis. Of fish, there were the bones of halibut and cod. We also found bones of sea-otters and of large and small whales. Generally speaking, the kitchen refuse was mixed up, but in the deepest part of the trench we found bones of sea mammals and whales only and in the upper layers shells of echini and mollusks. At 1.4 meters we found a decayed skeleton, lying, as will be seen later, in the usual squatting position. The bones of a large whale which had at one time served as the framework of the roof of an underground dwelling were found at a depth of 1.9 meters. From this we may conclude that the dwelling under the whale-bones belonged to a generation older than that to which the skeleton belonged. The three small pits excavated on the Amaknax site yielded no remains. Xatacxan Site. —This site was located on the same isthmus as the Amaknax village and quite close to a burial-cave examined by Doctor Dali (plate 9, figs. 1 and 3). At this site we excavated only one pit to a depth of 5.1 meters (plate 6, fig. 1), in which the culture strata reached a depth of 5.05 meters. The contents of the successive layers were as follows: (1) 0.4 meter.—Mold. (2) 1.3 meters.—Mixed kitchen refuse, with scarcely any admixture of earth, consisting of fish-bones and mollusks (mainly Mytilus edulis) ; very few echini. (3) 0.35 meter.—Fat dark clayey earth containing bones of sea mammals (whales, sea-lions, sea-otters, and seals) and birds (mainly uriles) ; very few mollusks. (4) 0.65 meter.—Shells of mollusks ( Mytilus edulis, Acmeea patina, and Venus petiti, bones of fishes, birds, and of a small quantity of sea-mammals. (5) 0.15 meter.—A layer of fish-bones and a small quantity of echini. (6) 1.1 meters.—A layer of mixed kitchen refuse, very few echini, with shells of mollusks and bird-bones predominating. (7) 0.3 meter.—A layer of cod-bones. (8) 0.5 meter.—A layer of mollusks, bones of birds, sea-lions, and seals. , (9) 0.3 meter.—Bones of whales and birds and shells of mollusks. (10) 0.05 meter.—A layer of yellow sand containing no refuse. Particular attention should be directed to the whale-bones, which provided material for the roofs of underground dwellings, and which were found at different JOCHELSON PLATE 9 1. Excavations at the ancient village site, Amaknax, situated on a neck of land on Amaknax Island. 2. Bird’s-eye view of neck of land on Amaknax Island. 3. Burial cave on Amaknax Island investigated by Doctor Dali. Excavations of Ancient Village Sites. 39 depths in this pit. Thus, in layer 4, at a depth of 2.5 meters, we found bones of the Pacific right whale with perforated ends and longitudinal grooves; other bones of this species were found in layer 6 at a depth of 3.4 meters. Finally, at the very bottom of layer 9, were found the vertebrae of a large whale. These bones were evidently the remains of underground dwellings of different periods. The following specimens were found at the depths indicated: Two stone knives, 2.2 meters (plate 16, figs. 4 and 7) ; a stone sinker, 2.6 meters (plate 17, fig. 4); a bone wedge, 3 meters (plate 26, fig. 2). This pit, like those on the Amaknax site, were very difficult to excavate. The fat clayey earth held the specimens firmly, so that we were compelled to break the earth with picks at the risk of injuring the bone and stone objects found. Tanaxtaxax Site .—Tanaxtaxax was located at the head of a long neck of land on a hill approximately 20 feet above sea-level. There were traces of about 12 pits, none of them very large. The depressions had been almost entirely filled with wind- carried earth and made it difficult to define their borders and in addition bears testi¬ mony to the great age of the pits. The Aleut also believed these pits to be very old, as did Doctor Dali, who had excavated at this site. Some of the depressions were overgrown by the gardens of the people of Unalaska. To the west of this site was a salt-water lake which had evidently been part of the sea before the isthmus rose and cut it off. The only available fresh water is from a 'small brook with its source in the northernmost mountain of the island. One pit in the northern part of this site was excavated. A trench was dug 4.9 meters deep and strata bearing remains reached a depth of 4.8 meters. The layers, from the surface down, were as follows: (1) 0.95 meter.—Mold containing a small quantity of halibut and cod bones and shells of Mytilus edulis. There were very few echini-shells and of sea mammals only the bones of a fur-seal were found. (2) 0.6 meter.—A small quantity of earth and much kitchen refuse, chiefly cod-bones. This was accompanied by shells of mollusks ( Mytilus edulis and Venus petiti), and bones of fur-seals, sea-lions, seals, and whales, and a small quantity of bones of uriles and murres ( Uria arra ). (3) 0.6 meter.—A layer of mold containing a small quantity of shells of Venus petiti and echini. Some sea-lion bones were also found. (4) 1.25 meters.—Little earth and much kitchen refuse, among which were bones of whales, sea-lions, and fish, and shells of mollusks Mytilus edulis and Venus petiti, and a small quantity of echini. ( 5 ) 0.3 meter.—A layer containing only bones of sea-lions and cod and shells of Mytilus edulis and Venus petiti, with no admixture of earth. (6) 0.5 meter.—A layer of bones of cod and shells of Venus petiti. (7) 0.1 meter.—A layer of echini. (8) 0.5 meter.—A small quantity of earth, bones of sea-lions and cod, and shells of M. edulis and Venus petiti. (9) 0.1 meter.—A layer of shingle similar to the character of the sea-bottom. In all layers, the soil was clayey and dark, the result of organic decomposition. The earth, as elsewhere on Amaknax Island, was so hard that it had to be broken up with picks, and, in addition the excavations were hampered by the presence of large stones, evidently brought to line the walls, some bearing traces of red paint. Specimens were found at the following depths: A prong for a bird-dart (plate 24, fig. 5), 0.6 meter. Two stone adzes of greenish quartzite (plate 15, fig. 26, and text-fig. 25), 1 meter. A woman’s knife, 2 meters. A bone handle (2122) and stone knife (text-fig. 22), 2.4 meters. A stone lamp (plate 18, fig. 2), 2.6 meters. A stone sinker (plate 17, fig. 15), 3 meters. 4 40 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. EXCAVATIONS ON UKNADAX ISLAND. The small island, Uknadax, is now called Hog Island, because the Russian American Company kept hogs there. It lies in Unalaska Bay between Amaknax Island and Natykin Bay (see map of Unalaska Bay, text-fig. 4). The ancient village was located on the southeastern side of the island. During our visit, the Unalaska Aleut Nikifor Dyakonov lived on the island. Some years before an Ameri¬ can trader had established a blue-fox farm on the island, bringing the foxes from St. Paul Island. However, the undertaking failed, since there was insufficient food for the foxes. It is possible also that the foxes were secretly hunted by the Unalas- kans. So the American abandoned the island, presenting the house to Dyakonov. Traces of old dwellings were found on the shore, as well as higher up on the hill. On the shore were indications of large oblong dwellings, but on the hill the pits were round and small. According to Dyakonov, the Aleut had lived on the hill when under Russian domination. We excavated the two largest pits on the shore; one was 28.3 by 5.5 meters, the other 20.4 by 5.2 meters. The longitudinal axis of both large pits lay from east to west. Before digging, the depth of both pits was about a meter. At the sides of the large pits was a row of smaller depressions which may have served as sleeping-places for children, with passages to the main pit, or storage- places for food. In the large depression the refuse was only 2 feet deep, but the smaller pits seemed to have served especially for the reception of refuse. The digging of the two large oblong pits revealed similar situations; on either side were 8 small pits, 3 to 8 feet in diameter. In the smaller pits on the southern side was kitchen refuse and whale-bones, which presumably had served as material for the ceiling. Three of the small pits, evidently for burial, contained quite decayed skeletons. The remaining 5 pits contained no skeletal remains. It is difficult to assign a use for them. They may possibly have been sleeping-places for children, which communicated with the main pit by an underground passage. According to tradition, such compartments were skilfully hidden and covered by mats, so that attacking enemies could not discover them. The pits to the north of the large oblong one contained no skeletal remains, but were full of kitchen refuse and may have been especially dug for this purpose. At the western and eastern walls of the large pit was a pit somewhat larger than those to the south and north. These contained some kitchen refuse, but not in such quantities as in the small pits. These last two pits had evidently been storage-places or possibly special cooking-lodges. The village site was 5 meters above sea-level. All the pits contained a con¬ siderable number of large stones, which evidently supported the posts of whale- jaws. All the bones found, including those of sea mammals and whales, were in a much decayed state. Many of the whale-bones, which are usually distinguished by their hardness and solidity, fell to pieces when handled. This bears witness to the comparatively old age of the site, despite the fact the refuse layer was not deep. JOCHELSON PLATE 10 Model of section of Pit 3 on the ancient village site, Aglagax, Umnak Island, with a skeleton found at a depth of 1.9 meters. (For a description of layers, see p. 31.) The model is on exhibition in the Rumiantzev Museum in Moscow. CHAPTER IV. HUMAN REMAINS IN KITCHEN MIDDENS. At present the Aleut, as devout Christians, inter their dead in coffins in ceme¬ teries, according to the Russian custom. They show no evidence of respect either for their former mode of burial or for the graves of their non-baptized ancestors. Influenced by the Russian missionaries, the Aleut called their “ impious ” dead ancestors “ propastchi,” meaning “ perished,” and referring to dead animals only. These circumstances greatly facilitated the work of excavating ancient Aleut graves; the Aleut laborers dug the graves without fear and even in a spirit of flippancy. Thus, Unalaska Aleut would say to their tribesmen of other islands: “Well, we will now dig out your great-grandfathers,” and the great-grandsons were not dis¬ pleased. The Aleut indifferently washed the bones of their pagan ancestors before drying them out, and it was only on Umnak that the old people asked us not to wash the bones in the sea, rivers, or lakes because the fish might disappear from the waters. Of the two principal methods of disposal of the dead, aiming either at the preservation or the destruction of corpses, the Aleut practiced the first method. They did not employ the methods prevailing among the tribes of northeastern Siberia 1 (with the exception of the Yukaghir 2 ) and among some of the North American Indians , 3 cremation or discarding the corpse to be devoured by beasts and birds. The ancient Aleut preserved bodies of their dead with great care, a cus¬ tom founded first on their beliefs and secondly on the psychical peculiarities of the tribe. According to the religious concepts of the Aleut, the soul (an'gix') continues to have some connection with the dead body; therefore the burial place must be a reminder of the dwelling of the living, i. e., an earth lodge, or a place where hunters spent their time when hunting sea mammals far from their village, i. e., caves. On the other hand, relatives, parents and children, and husbands and wives were greatly attached to each other. Parting with the dead was deferred as long as possible; the corpses were kept in the dwellings, relatives sitting nearby and watch¬ ing and sleeping near them. Fear of the dead, at least of related dead, was unknown to the Aleut, since their conception of those departed was not that of hostile spirits 1 See W. Bogoras, The Chukchee, p. 526; W. Jochelson, The Koryak, p. 104; S. Krasheninnikov, Description of the Kamchatka Country, St. Petersburg, 1818, Vol. II, p. 184 (in Russian) ; G. W. Steller, Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka, Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1774, p. 273. 2 See W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir, Part II, Religion and Myths, p. 222. 3 H. C. Yarrow, Introduction to the Study of Mortuary Customs among the North American Indians, Washington, 1880; T. Preuss, Begrabnissarten der Amerikaner und Nordost Asiaten, Konigsberg, 1894. 41 42 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. but as the same loving- beings as when they were alive. Among most primitive peoples, as the Siberian natives and the Eskimo, kindred to the Aleut tribes, the departed inspires fear to such an extent that the dwelling in which a death occurred is very often abandoned. Among the Siberian natives we found an analogy only among the Yukaghir; they, too, have no fear of departed relatives . 4 As will be seen in the section dealing with religion, the Aleut dead may do harm to enemies or to alien hunters after helping them in the chase, but they always preserve a benevolent attitude toward relatives. Judging, however, from the excavation of burial-places, no uniform method of disposing of the dead prevailed. The present Aleut tell how their ancestors kept the dead, attired in their best clothing, in their living-rooms, before the final dis¬ posal. Mothers kept dead infants for months, and very often for a whole year, •carrying them around as when alive or rocking them in cradles. In Aleut folk-lore are many pathetic tales of women who did not part with their dead husbands or lovers for a long time. One tale is that of a young woman who killed her husband, stealing upon him at the side of her rival, but afterwards she insisted on her right to remain with the corpse, preferring it to her rival. Her rival did not yield, and both women remained with the dead, spending several days without food or drink at the side of the corpse. Another tradition relates the tale of an Aleut who killed his nephew, the son of his sister , 5 being suspicious of the conduct of his wife and nephew. The aunt carried the body of her nephew-lover to the top of a rock, where she spent several days with it, speaking to it and caressing it as if it were alive. Finally, heart-broken and weeping, she threw herself into the sea with the corpse. Under such circumstances it is scarcely to be wondered at that the Aleut achieved the art of mummifying the bodies of their dead, which made possible their preservation and postponed the time for final disposal. It may be contended that mummification could not succeed in the cold and wet climate of the Aleutian Islands, but such is not the case. The Aleut used no drugs for embalming, but proceeded as follows: An incision was made in the perinaeum and the intestines removed through the pelvis, or an incision was made over the stomach for that purpose. The intes¬ tines were carefully cleaned, all fatty substances removed, and then stuffed with dry scented grasses. Then the corpse was arrayed in its best clothing, over which a kamleika (water-proof shirt made.of the guts of sea mammals) was drawn. Then it was arranged in a squatting position with knees drawn up to the chin. Wrapped in closely plaited grass-mats and seal or sea-lion skins taken from the cover of the dead man’s boat, the corpse was lashed into a compact bundle with thongs or sea¬ weed ropes. Then the whole package was again wrapped in a net made of sea-lion sinews. The arrangement of a corpse in a squatting position has a wide distribution throughout the world, not excluding Europe. It was prevalent in the palaeolithic 4 W. Jochelson, The Yukaghir, Part II, Religion and Myths, pp. 163-165. 5 According to the old Aleut custom, a woman’s son was reared by her brother. JOCHELSON PLATE 11 1. Skeleton found in the excavation of the Nanikax site, Attu Island, at depth of 1.5 meters. 2. Skeleton from the Aglagax site, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.9 meters. 3. Skeleton from the Ukix site, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.8 meters. 4. Skeleton from the Ugludax Site, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.1 meters. Human Remains in Kitchen Middens. 43 period and the custom is still followed in some parts of Africa (among the Hotten¬ tot and Bantu tribes), Asia (Indo-China and Japan), America (among some of the Eskimo and some Indian tribes like the Comanche), and in Australia. Only in Europe has this custom completely disappeared. Various interpretations of this method of disposal of the dead have been offered. For example, it has been suggested that the squatting position of the dead was to imitate the position of a child when in the mother’s womb, i. e., (i) that the posture of man when leaving this world may correspond to that before his birth; (2) that the doubling up of the body was for economy of space; and (3) to give the dead a crooked position to prevent their returning and harming the living. None of these interpretations can be applied to the Aleut method of disposal of the dead. The first explanation came from missionary-travelers who applied to this custom the Christian conception of death. It is quite doubtful whether any tribe following this practice attached this or a similar explanation to the custom. The second explanation might be applicable where urn burial was practised, as in India, Hindustan, and South Carolina. The third explanation, fear of the dead, undoubt¬ edly presents a real cause, which might, however, refer not to the doubling up of the corpse, but to binding it or putting it into an urn. Both these methods may have been to hamper its movement. The Aleut lashed the body with thongs only to keep the bent bones together, while the squatting position corresponds to the posture of which the living Aleut are so fond. Even now, when the Aleut are familiar with the use of chairs and stools, many of them, particularly the women, perform their household tasks squatting on the floor. This is also the usual posture when at leisure or when playing chess, a game they adopted from the Russians and of which they are very fond. The usual posi¬ tion is to sit on the heels, clasp the hands around the knees, or rest the chin on them. In this position the Aleut rests his whole foot on the ground. The author was unable to attain such a position and always fell on his back when attempting to do so. To sit on the heels as do the Aleut one must have well developed leg-muscles capable of keeping the trunk in equilibrium; besides the Aleut curve their backs and drop their heads forward to assist in balancing themselves. Apparently the use of this posture by many generations of Aleut has made them adept at assuming it. Not only are they not fatigued thereby, but they seem to find it restful after their work. So the dead are arranged likewise. Text-figure 5 a shows an old Aleut woman sitting on her heels, resting after her work; in figure 5B is a young Aleut woman weaving a sus¬ pended grass basket. According to one tradition recorded in a text, the ancient Aleut, when pre¬ vented from hunting at sea by continuous gales, used to squat in their huts, cover themselves with grass, and wait until the storm subsided or they died of starvation. Doctor Dali states that during the historic period, at the time of the advent of the Russians, burials were found with bodies stretched out on their backs at full length; 6 however, we found no bodies lying thus. Only one unflexed skeleton was 6 W. H. Dali, On the Remains of Later Prehistoric Man, etc. (Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Washington, 1878), 5. 44 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. found, but this lay, not on its back, but on its side, and judging from its length and the measurements of the skull, the skeleton may be that of a Russian left where he had been killed (plate 14, fig. 4). An old Aleut informed us that not all Aleut were embalmed, this being the privilege of noted hunters, especially whale-hunters. The Atka Aleut regarded them as bewitched after death and called them asxi'nan, which properly means “ the departed ones.” The asxi'nan were hung up in caves in troughs resembling large cradles which were attached to a cross-beam resting on two posts. Colored posts were placed in front of the entrance, which was also painted in different colors. The asxi'nan, according to Aleut belief, were busy throughout the night; they rose, hunted, prepared food for themselves, held feasts and festivals, and in the morning resumed their squatting position. a b Fig. 5.— A, Old Aleut woman resting; B, young Aleut woman weaving a basket. Drawn from author’s photographs. Corpses of honored people and of the families of chiefs were also mummified. Doctor Dali has also described the Aleut mummies found in caves, and we were told of other caves containing mummies, but were unable to examine them. He has also described the outer appearance of the mummies obtained by Captain Henning, of the Alaska Commercial Company, on the islands of the Four Craters in 1874. Two of these were presented to the California Academy of Sciences and the remainder were forwarded as a gift to the U. S. National Museum. Unfortunately, Captain Henning did not give a detailed account of the position of the mummies, nor of the circumstances under which they were obtained. According to informa¬ tion obtained from some intelligent natives, Doctor Dali placed the age of the mummies as shortly before the period of the advent of the Russians. Doctor Dali relates a tradition concerning these remains, a variant of which was recorded by the author as follows: Human Remains in Kitchen Middens. 45 On the island of Ka'gam-Tlan 7 there lived an old chief. He was the best war¬ rior and hunter among all the Aleut and took constant care of his people. Therefore he was respected and honored far outside his island. He was a widower and had two children, a son and a daughter, whom he loved very much. At the request of his son, the old man made a small skin boat (■ i'qyax ') for him. When it was ready the boy was allowed to go out in it on condition that he did not go beyond the limits of the bay. However, the boy saw some ducks, chased them, and, carried away by his interest in the hunt, left the bay, and his father lost sight of him. Just at this time, the son-in-law of the old man, a young Aleut from Umnak Island, appeared from the sea. He was on his way to visit his pregnant wife’, who, according to Aleut custom, must remain with her father until after the birth of the child. The boy did not see his brother-in-law, as his back was toward him. The young Aleut saw with delight how skilfully and bravely the boy followed the chase. He resolved to frighten him and threw a dart, aiming above the boy’s head, but unfortunately he hit him in the back. The boat capsized and the boy drowned. The brother-in-law, frightened by the incident, carried the skin boat and the boy’s body to the shore, left it among the weeds and returned to Umnak, giving up the visit to his wife. The chief ( tn'kux ') hunted for his boy all night and the next morning found him dead among the algae close to the shore. He embalmed the body and arranged an elaborate funeral. While the corpse was being carried to the family cave, the chief’s daughter stumbled and fell down the rock to her death, giving premature birth to a dead child. The boy’s funeral was halted and the chief prepared the bodies of his daughter and the child and carried them to the cave. Grieving over his loss, the chief did not survive his children long, and soon the people added his body to those in the cave. Such, in brief, is the tale of the origin of the mummified corpses found in a cave on the island of Ka'gam-Tlan. But Doctor Dali, who examined the mummies found by Captain Henning, states that, judging from their age, they do not cor¬ respond to those referred to in the tradition. On the other hand, we were told by the Umnak Aleut that the mummified corpses of the members of the family of the late chief of Ka'gam-Tlan Island are still untouched in one of the caves on the island. Two types of caves were used as burial-places: one with deep grotto-like passages with a large opening, the other in the form of small hollows in the rock. Neither type of cave is due to solution and erosion processes; but rather they are a part of the original structure of the solid volcanic rock or lava tunnels similar to those known in Hawaii and Oregon. The caves are dry and no surface water pene¬ trates them. Mummified corpses of distinguished people were hung up chiefly in the bottom of the grotto-like caves, while in the small caves, which evidently were regarded as village cemeteries, all the less distinguished dead were placed. According to Weniaminoff, common people and slaves were buried in such small caves, while chiefs and other eminent people were hung up in high, square, wooden boxes with slanting 7 Doctor Dali erroneously spells this name Kagamil. 46 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. roofs, or were buried in separate earth lodges. However, it should be stated that we nowhere found traces of burials above the ground in boxes, as related by Weniaminoff, and no other Aleut knew of such graves. Such burials were called qu'mnax ' by Weniaminoff, but the Aleut use this designation for any place for the disposal of .a body, whether it be a cave, a special burial hut, or a compartment for the dead in an occupied underground dwelling. It should be added that in the caves examined on Attu, as, for instance, the large cave on Goltzef Bay (plate 7, fig. 6), within 15 miles of the present winter settlement, or the two caves on the little island Kixsin, opposite the settlement on Chichagof Bay, no traces of burials were found. The Kixsin caves were used by the Attu Aleut for storing grasses for weaving. It is possible that the Attu people did not use caves as burial-places. The large cave on Goltzef Bay is grotto-shaped and is divided into two passages. A narrow gorge, into which the sun does not pene¬ trate, leads to the wide cave-entrance near which stalagmite-like pillars of ice still stood in spite of the lateness of the season (June 20). These ice-pillars were formed from the melting of the snow on the rock over the cave. It was cold, and in some places inside the cave water dripped through crevices in the basaltic rock. Few vestiges of human activities were found. Among the splinters of rock fallen from the vault of the cave and in the earth carried into the cave by the winds, were found some bones of fishes, sea mammals, and foxes. At the time of our examination, Aleut hunters often stayed there for the night when hunting foxes and seals when they did not wish to return home in the dark. During stormy weather the hunters often spent many days in the cave. There are two caves on the small island in Chichagof Bay, within a mile of the present winter village, and opposite the ancient village site, Sin. One of the caves is a large grotto (plate 7, fig. 4), similar to the cave on Goltzef Bay, but not so deep. Besides a quantity of shells of mollusks and seal-bones, no other refuse or traces of burials were found. Dry, tumbled grass, a hunter’s sleeping-place, was found in the bottom of the cave. The second cave was smaller in size, not deep, but dry. In the summer the Aleut women preserve their supply of grasses which, during the winter, they make into mats and baskets. Small cave cemeteries of the second type, sack-shaped hollows in the rock, were found on Atka and Amaknax. Two such caves were discovered on Atka, near the Atxalax village site (plate 8). Evidently both caves had served as burial-places for the inhabitants of the village. They were located in the southeastern part of the por- phyritic rock of a promontory separated from the abrupt shore of Atka by a narrow neck of land, on which a village site ( A ) was located. The cave ( B ) was evidently a one-family burial-place. From this cave we secured four uninjured skulls, two broken, and some well-preserved bones (plate 8, fig. 1). Of much greater impor¬ tance was the second cave (C), located about 30 paces from the former and a little higher up on the rock. Three days were occupied in excavating the cave, August 15 and 17 and September 4, 1909. The interruptions were due to the heavy rains and stormy weather, making it unsafe to go from the village to the promontory at Atxalax in skin boats. JOCHELSON PLATE 12 Skeleton from Ukix, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.2 meters. 2. Skeleton from Ugludax, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.1 meters Human Remains in Kitchen Middens. 47 On first examination, the cave (C) presented the appearance of a small rocky vault, under which three skulls, whitened by weathering, were observed. The vault over the skulls was only a foot high. With the removal of stones which had fallen from the vault and wind-borne earth, additional skulls were disclosed. The cave as it appeared early in the excavations is shown in plate 8, figure 2. With the removal of stones and other debris a threshold of whale-bones came to light. This had evi¬ dently been intended to wall up the cave. Intermingled with the stones and earth was much decayed skeletal material, and about 2 feet below the first skulls found more skulls were uncovered. Judging from the number of skulls, 22 bodies had been buried in the cave. There may possibly have been more bodies, since some of the skulls may have been totally destroyed; of those found only 10 were intact. All the others were broken to some degree by stones dropping from the vault or had decayed as a result of weathering, so they were abandoned. Evidently, the cave had been the burial-place for the Atxalax village over a long period of time, though it is difficult to make a specific statement in years or to refer the skulls to a particular period. From the position of the skeletal remains, no conclusion could be drawn as to the original position of the bodies. The bottom of the cave was 2 meters square. All the bodies could scarcely have been placed in the usual squatting position in one layer. It must, therefore, be assumed that the squat¬ ting bodies were in 2 layers at least or were laid out on their sides like those on Umnak Island (plate 14, fig. 2). That this cave was an ancient one may be deduced from the fact that all the perishable body-wrappings, such as water-proof coats, fur clothing, grass mats, skins of sea mammals, masks and other wooden objects, and implements had com¬ pletely decayed, and most of the human bones had disintegrated. Of objects usually deposited with the dead, only stone implements and a few of bone were found unin¬ jured. Thus, among the skeletal remains were found stone labrets, arrow and har¬ poon points, and those parts of throwing implements that were of bone. The total depth of the debris was 1.5 meters. Beneath the skulls and other bones was a layer containing kitchen refuse mixed with earth and fragments of rock. The cave was excavated to the original rock bottom; the total depth of the excavations was 2.9 meters. A vertical section of the cave is shown in figure 6. A, is the skeletal layer; the dotted line passes through the rock fragments and the bone threshold which closed the entrance to the cave. In B are shown the fallen rocks covered with grass¬ growing earth; C is the kitchen-refuse layer beneath the bone layer ; D is a layer of shingle or water-worn stones. The stratum of kitchen refuse was of the same character throughout. The remains generally predominating were shells of mollusks (Mytilus edulis, Acmcea patina, Litorina sitchana, and Mactra ponderosa). Shells of echini were much less in evidence than those of mollusks. Of fish, there were the bones of cod and halibut and of sea mammals those of sea-lions, seals, and sea-otters. The bird-bones were those of uriles, albatross, and puffins. In the layer containing the skeletal remains were found several raven beaks which had evidently served as amulets. In the 48 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. kitchen refuse beneath the skeletal remains were found the same kind of stone and bone weapons and implements as in the skeletal layer, which is evidence that Aleut culture did not change, at least in the course of the accumulation of these 2 layers of debris. In the opinion of Doctor Dali the occurrence of kitchen refuse beneath skeletal remains indicated that at certain periods caves had not served as burial- places, but as dwellings. This conclusion does not appeal to the author, since all the remains found during excavation tend to support the supposition that the Aleut came to the islands with a definitely developed culture and with a knowledge of building of houses suitable for protection from the inclemencies of the Aleutian climate. It is true that remains of food have been found in the caves, but these may show that it had been used as a temporary shelter and not as a permanent dwelling. The presence of stone lamps in the cave does not necessarily prove that it had been used as a dwelling, since lamps were used not only for light, but for warmth as well. Hunters always carried stone lamps in their skin boats and when ashore used them to warm themselves. Possibly they kept special lamps in caves for this purpose. A third burial cave was discovered on Amaknax, near the ancient village site Tanaxtaxax. On t! side of the lagoon and opposite the village site on slope of Amaknax ridge, 10 feet above the level of lake, was a small cave so filled with stones and earth overgrown with grass that from a distance it was scarcely visible. After close examination we found a narrow slit between the rocky vault of the cave and the floor, where could be • seen a broken skull and fragments of d other bones. We cleared the cave until its original surface was reached. At the Fig - 6 — Vertical section of burial cave, C, Atka Island. front of the cave a layer, 1.2 meters thick, was removed and this gradually thinned down to a depth of 0.7 meter at the cave wall. Whale-bones which had served as a threshold to the cave were discovered outside the vault about 0.5 meter away. The bones were supported by large stones. The location of the threshold makes it prob¬ able that the cave vault had formerly protruded farther and that the front of the cave had collapsed. Among the fragments of rock and earth taken from under the vault were the remains of 16 skeletons, judging from the number of skulls. More than half of the bones were so decayed that they crumbled to dust when handled. Only 9 skulls sufficiently complete for measuring were obtained. When all the debris had been removed it appeared that the vault protruded 0.5 meter; thus, the former width of the cave was 1 meter. Its height was 1 meter and its length 1.5 meters. This small cave had contained at least 16 bodies. It is difficult to say whether they had been in a sitting position or laid on their sides one over the other. Evidently this cave cemetery was very ancient; not only were there no vestiges of wooden objects and masks, but no remnants of bone objects were found. Of objects of stone JOCHELSON PLATE 13 1. Skeleton from Ukix, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.2 meters. 2. Skeleton from Ugludax, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.2 meters. 3. Skeleton of a child from Ukix, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.5 meters. 4. Skeleton from Natxakax, Umnak Island, found at depth of 1.7 meters. Human Remains in Kitchen Middens. 49 we found two woman’s knives, a man’s crooked knife, a fragment of a stone lance- head, and two whetstones. The only kitchen refuse found was a small quantity of mollusk shells. It is interesting to note that Doctor Dali, who made excavations on the Tanax- taxax site, had evidently not noticed this cave from the other side of the lagoon; otherwise it is scarcely possible that he would have left it untouched. We reproduce here the photograph of the cave examined by Doctor Dali (plate 9, fig. 3) more than 45 years prior to our expedition. Plate 9, figure 1, shows the isolated rock at the end of the promontory where the cave is located, and the middle neck of land on which were situated the two sites, Amaknax and Xatacxan, which were excavated. The burial cave was situated near the latter site. In the bird’s-eye view in plate' 9, figure 2, may be seen the third or southern neck of land on Amaknax Island, which we were unable to examine. In the strait between the last neck of land and Unalaska is a small island called Expedition Island, on which Weniaminoff has planted some fir trees brought from Sitka. In addition to the large grotto-like caves in which the Aleut suspended their mummified dead and the smaller caves which served as village cemeteries, the Aleut used compartments in their underground dwellings or special lodges for the disposal of their dead. For the latter 2 methods the bodies were prepared as for cave burial. As will appear later, skeletons were found during the excavation of the usual type of underground dwelling as well as in special burial pits. In some underground dwellings were uncovered lateral burial compartments which had been walled up by stones and earth and covered with grass mats while the underground house con¬ tinued to be occupied. In a large dwelling one side often contained compartments for the dead, while the other was for the accommodation of children or for storage. These latter partitioned spaces could also be used for burials of the members of the family and were then walled up. The greater number of skeletons was discovered through the excavation of the large pits, remnants of underground dwellings, where they were usually located at one side only. Special burial pits were called ula'kax ' from u'lax\ house or dwelling, and ka, element of the potential mood, i. e., a possible house. Such burial huts, when they collapsed, left indications of their former presence in the form of almost circular pits 1 to 2 meters in diameter. There were burial pits for one, two, or three indi¬ viduals, according to the number that had died at the same time. A burial pit for one person was designated as a “ solitary burial hut ” by the Aleut. In these pits the skeletons were found either in a sitting posture or on their sides. In some places, as on Hog Island, small burial pits were located in rows along one side of the large oblong underground dwelling. As has been stated before, some of the skeletons were found in a sitting posi¬ tion, with knees drawn up to the chin, while others were found lying on their sides. In plate 3 may be seen the position of a skeleton as found upon excavation. Figure 1 is a skeleton found in Pit 3 of the Ukix village site on Umnak Island. The so Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. skeleton lay on its left side on the northwestern side of the pit, at a depth of 3.5 feet. At a distance of 3.5 feet from the first, another skeleton lay on its right side, with the cranium missing, though the lower jaw was found. This may be some indica¬ tion of the former position of the skeletons; apparently, the bodies had been placed as if sitting, and later they had fallen over. One evidence of this may be seen in the curvature of the vertebral columns, something which could not have occurred had the bent bodies originally been laid on their sides. The skeleton with the skull had the right arm drawn up to form a right angle, while the left arm was stretched out at full length, both arms having evidently fallen into this position when the skeleton fell over. The skull appeared turned by its neck to front. In the model of an excavated section of the ruin of an underground dwelling now in the Rumiantzev Museum in Moscow (plate 10) the skeleton was arranged to appear as if having fallen from a sitting position. Plate 11, figure 1, shows the best-preserved skeleton of 9 found on the Nanikax village site on Attu, in a small lateral pit separated from Pit 4 by a small elevation. It is possible that this was a burial pit for the inhabitants of Pit 4. The skeleton was found on its left side at a depth of 1.5 meters, intermingled with kitchen refuse. At the same depth were found skeletons in much better condition: in the middle of the pit were 4 with skulls shattered from the weight of the fallen whale-bones which had served as ceiling rafters. A skeleton was found on the Aglagax village site (plate 11, fig. 2) on Umnak Island, at a depth of 1.9 meters while excavating Pit 2. It lay bent over on its right side. It is difficult to determine whether this was its original position or whether it had fallen thus. The curved position of the vertebral column may support the second supposition. The pit was one of the largest on the site and the body had evidently been buried in one of the compartments of the dwelling. About 2 feet below the skeleton were found large whale-bones which had evidently served as the framework for an underground dwelling antedating the one in which the skeleton was found. Not far from Pit 2 we excavated an ula'kax ' (burial pit). At a depth of 1.3 meters were found the much decayed skeleton of a woman and a child. No refuse was found with the bones, merely earth black with decayed organic matter. In plate 11, figure 3 (also plate 5, fig. 2), may be seen the skeleton found in Pit 1 on the Ukix site on Umnak Island at a depth of 1.8 meters. Lying on the skeleton were war throwing-lances (plate 23, figs. 2 to 6 and 8), indicating the burial of a war¬ rior. The skeleton lay on its right side, with the left arm bent at right angles and the right at a sharp angle. The position of the arm may testify as to the original sitting position of the body; but judging by the normal curve of the spine, by the position of the skull on its right side, and by the undisturbed position of the neck vertebrae, it seems more probable that the bent corpse was laid out on its side. The skeleton lay with head to the southeast and feet to the northwest; it was surrounded by kitchen refuse consisting of shells of echini and mollusca, and fish-bones. The body had evidently been laid, as was true in most cases, on the kitchen remains left by Human Remains in Kitchen Middens. Si former generations, and covered by grass mats, which have since decayed. The presence of kitchen remains above the 'skeleton may be explained by their falling when the ceiling of the lodge collapsed. The skeleton in plate n, figure 4, was found together with another in Pit 1 of the Ugludax site on Umnak Island, at a depth of 1.1 meters, in the midst of kitchen remains (plate 5, fig. 3). Both skeletons lay at the northwestern side of the pit, the first on its right side and the second on its back; but judging from the posi¬ tion of the bones, the bodies had originally been in a sitting position. Of the two skeletons shown on plate 12, figure 1, has already been shown in plate 3, figure 1, and has been described above. The skeleton in figure 2 has been described along with the skeleton shown in plate 11, figure 4. In plate 13 the following skeletons are illustrated: Figure 1 was found in the burial Pit 5, on the Ukix village site on Umnak Island, at a depth of 1.2 meters, intermingled with refuse. The bones had partly decayed; the skeleton lay on its back, with the skull turned to the right. The left arm was bent at right angles and the right stretched out at full length. The original position of the body had evidently been a sitting posture. In the photograph may be seen the bones of the foot and the left hand. Only the skull and the lower jaw were worth preserving for our collec¬ tion, since the rest of the bones were much decayed. The skeleton shown in plate 13, figure 2, was found at a depth of 1.2 meters in Pit 3 (plate 5, fig. 1) of the Ugludax site on Umnak Island. The skeleton lay on its right side, but from the distorted position of the spine and the skull, we decided that it had been in a sitting position. The bones of one foot and one hand were missing. The skeleton of a child may be seen in plate 13, figure 3. It was found in Pit 2 of the Ukix village site on Umnak Island, at a depth of 1.5 meters. Beneath the upper layer of dark earth was found a layer of clay containing pieces of rotted wood. Evidently these were the remains of wooden rods which had formed the frame for the ceiling of the burial lodge. The skeleton lay on its left side on some rotted wooden planks which had evidently served as the floor of the earth lodge. Both arms were outstretched; the tibia and fibula of the left leg lay apart. In burial-hut 2 on the Nutxakax village site on Umnak Island was found the skeleton shown in plate 13, figure 4. It was uncovered at a depth of 1.7 meters, and had preserved its sitting position. The skeleton was surrounded by kitchen remains: echini, mollusks, and fish-bones. In plate 14 the following skeletons are shown: Figure 1 represents 4 skeletons mentioned in the description of the skeleton shown in plate 11, figure 1. The 5 skeletons shown in figure 2 were found in burial Pit 3 on the Aglagax village site on Umnak Island. The bones of the first skeleton were encountered at a depth of 1 meter. It soon became obvious that beneath these were the bones of other skeletons. When the entire heap of bones had been cleared of earth and kitchen refuse, it appeared that there were 5 skeletons in the pit, with knees drawn up to the chin, and lying one over the other. Doubtless this was their original posi- 52 Archaeological Investigations in Aleutian Islands. tion, since if they had fallen afterwards, their disposition would not have been so regular. Three of the skeletons lay with 'skulls to the east, and 2 with skulls to the west. Evidently 2 bodies had been placed on the floor of the pit with heads to the east; the second pair was placed above these with heads to the west, and then the fifth was laid with head to the east. The pairs of bodies lay back to back with knees drawn up to the chin. It may be supposed that all 5 bodies were disposed of at one time and were probably warriors killed in battle. As has been explained, the Aleut disposed of their dead and set them up in the favorite squatting posture of the living. There is, in my opinion, no contradiction in the fact that some of the skeletons were found on their sides, since while sleeping the Aleut also like to draw up their knees. Figure 3 represents 1 of 2 skeletons found in burial Pit 2 of the Aglagax site. The framework of the roof of the pit had evidently been made of wooden planks. On the floor were the remains of 4 decayed posts, 2.5 meters apart. Under the skeleton were vestiges of decayed logs which had evidently served as a floor. It should be noted that driftwood is more common on Umnak Island than on any other of the Aleutian chain. Therefore the Umnak people often used logs as mate¬ rial for the framework of their dwellings or burial pits and not the more usual whale-bones. The remnants of rotted wood give an approximate indication of the recent age of the burial place. Evidently the skeleton had originally been in a sitting posture and had fallen when the ceiling crumbled. In falling on its back, the arms had stretched out, and the bent legs fallen to the sides. The clayey earth of the pit was intermingled with decayed organic matter. There was no kitchen refuse, but near the skeletons were found many bone wedges which had been used for splitting the logs for the burial pit. After the removal of the skeletons, the pit was dug down another meter, but no further remains were found. In figure 4 may be seen a skeleton found during excavation of the large pit on the Tanaxtaxax site on Amaknax Island, at a depth of 1.3 meters. Somewhat above the skeleton, about a meter deep, were found the disjointed fragments of 2 quite decayed skeletons, whose original position it was impossible to determine. The skele¬ ton illustrated was stretched out on its right side and was the only one found in this position. The arms as well as the legs were stretched to their full length. Somewhat deeper than the skeleton, near the walls of the pit, were found the bones of large whales, which evidently had been the framework of the roof of an under¬ ground dwelling older than the one in which the skeleton was found. The skeleton had evidently been left in the position in which the individual had been killed. Judging from the length of the skeleton and the dolichocephalic index of the skull, it was the body of a Russian. JOCHELSON PLATE 14 i-i