Toggle harpoon heads from the Aleutian Islands

L I B HAR.Y
OF THE
UN I VERSITY -
Of ILLINOIS

57 2..05
^35-3*7

s~r

H

72.05
FA

Field

IANA • ANTHROPOLOGY

Published by
CHICAGO NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

Volume 36 December 31, 1946 Number 2

TOGGLE HARPOON HEADS FROM
THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

George I. Quimby

Curator of Exhibits, Department of Anthropology
INTRODUCTION

The Eskimo harpoon with toggling head is a complicated weapon
used in the hunting of sea mammals. The harpoon consists of a
wooden shaft, a socketed collar of bone or ivory, a foreshaft of bone
or ivory, and a detachable head of bone or ivory. This detachable
head is so constituted that, after penetrating an animal, it toggles
(turns sidewise) in the wound when pressure is applied to the harpoon
line. This toggling action fastens the harpoon head securely within
the wound and prevents the animal from freeing itself from the
harpoon head and line. This type of harpoon was known to all
coast-dwelling Eskimos, including the Aleut, who live in the Aleutian
Islands.

In the large collection of Aleut artifacts presented to Chicago
Natural History Museum by Dr. Alvin R. Cahn, there are eight
toggle harpoon heads of bone. Such harpoon heads are rare in the
Aleutian Islands, where the barbed head of bone used on a harpoon
without a movable foreshaft is much more common. Consequently,
eight toggle harpoon heads, six of which came from a stratified site,
are of greater importance than their number would at first indicate.

Like other Eskimo harpoon heads, those of the Aleut are complex
structures. Each is equipped with a socket at the base into which
was fitted the outer end of the foreshaft; a spur; a line-hole through
which the harpoon head was fastened to a line; and, at the outer end
of the harpoon head, either a slot or a bed into which was fastened
a stone blade.

DESCRIPTION OF HARPOON HEADS

The harpoon head (Cat. No. 179308) illustrated in figure 5 is
13.8 cm. long. It has a long, pointed spur and a shallow, closed
socket 0.5 cm. deep. The inner side of the spur is concave for a length

No. 582 15 .-..■-

fHf UBlUflYGF fHE

JAN 2 8 1947

16

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 36

of 1.5 cm. This concavity and the shallow, closed socket fitted
against the foreshaft. The line-hole is oval and slightly countersunk
from both sides, with a shallow groove on each side that leads down-
ward toward the socket. At the outer end of the harpoon head there

Fig. 5. Bone harpoon head from Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179308.

is a spoon-shaped bed into which was once lashed a blade of chipped
stone. When this harpoon is viewed with blade-bed uppermost, the
spur is at the left. This harpoon head came from the lower levels of
D Midden, a large midden on southwestern Amaknak Island.

A similar harpoon head (Cat. No. 179309) is illustrated in figure 6.
It is 12.1 cm. long. It also has a long, pointed spur and a shallow,
closed socket 0.7 cm. deep. The inner side of the spur is slightly

Fig. 6. Bone harpoon head from Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179309.

concave near the socket for a distance of 1.6 cm. The line-hole is
round. At the outer end of the harpoon head there is a spoon-
shaped bed into which was once fastened a blade of chipped stone.
When this harpoon head is viewed with the blade-bed uppermost,

QUIMBY: ALEUTIAN HARPOON HEADS

17

the spur is at the right. This harpoon head was found in the lower
levels of D Midden.

The harpoon head (Cat. No. 179311) illustrated in figure 7 is
10.2 cm. long. It has a relatively short, pointed spur and a shallow,

Fig. 7. Bone harpoon head from Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179311.

closed socket 0.7 cm. deep. The line-hole is elliptical. On one side
of this harpoon head there is a groove leading from the line-hole
toward the socket. At the outer end of the harpoon head there is a
spoon-shaped bed for the hafting of a blade or point of chipped
stone. When this harpoon is viewed with the blade-bed uppermost,
the spur is at the right. This harpoon head came from the lower
levels of D Midden.

Fig. 8. Bone harpoon head from Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179312.

t

An unfinished and broken harpoon (Cat. No. 179312) is illus-
trated in figure 8. It is 9.7 cm. long, with a rather short, pointed
spur, a shallow, closed socket, and an elliptical line-hole that appears
to be gouged or reamed rather than drilled. The characteristics of
this head suggest that the intended style was like that of the pre-
— viously described harpoon head illustrated in figure 7. The unfin-

¥

A

U» OF ILL UBc

18

FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 36

ished and broken harpoon head was found in the lower levels of
D Midden.

The harpoon head (Cat. No. 179314) illustrated in figure 9 is
7.5 cm. long. It has a shallow, closed socket 0.5 cm. deep and a
relatively long, pointed spur. The inside part of the spur adjacent

Fig. 9. Bone harpoon
head from Amaknak Island.
Cat. No. 179314.

to the socket is concave for a distance of 1.4 cm. The line-hole is
round and slightly countersunk from each side. At the outer end
of the harpoon head there is a spoon-shaped bed into which at some
previous time was fastened a blade or a point of chipped stone.

Fig. 10. Bone harpoon head from Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179310.

On each side of the blade-bed there are narrow grooves, probably
three to a side, but since the outer end of the blade-bed is broken,
the number of grooves cannot be ascertained with certainty. When
this harpoon head is viewed with the blade-bed uppermost, the spur
is at the right. This harpoon head came from B Midden, in the
southwestern part of the island.

[Note to Librarians]

FIELDIANA

In December 1 9^3, the name of Field Museum of Natural History
was changed to Chicago Natural History Museum. Since that time it
has not been practical to make the called-for change in the name of the
Museum's technical publications. Beginning in 19J/.5, these publica-
tions of the Museum will appear under the general title of Fieldiana,
with division as formerly into five series — Anthropology, Botany,
Geology, Zoology, and Technique. These series will be continuous
with the volumes already published and will carry their successive
numerical designations as if no change of name had been made. The
name "Fieldiana" will appear only in connection with these series and
all other publications of the Museum will carry other titles.

The correct citation for the publications in the Fieldiana octavo series
will be Fieldiana, followed by the name of the series to which the publica-
tion belongs, and its volume number, etc.; for example, Fieldiana, Zool-
ogy, vol. 00, no. 0, pp. 00-00. For the Memoirs (quarto size) the
citation should be Fieldiana, Anthropology Memoirs, vol. 00, no. 00,
pp. 00-00.

The new name will not be used for the concluding parts of volumes
now partly published nor for additions to sets devoted to a single sub-
ject, as, for example, the Flora of Peru. These volumes and sets will
be completed as soon as possible but will continue to bear the serial
designation with which they started and the former name of the
institution.

September 19, 1945

QUIMBY: ALEUTIAN HARPOON HEADS

19

The harpoon head (Cat. No. 179310) illustrated in figure 10
is 11.3 cm. long, with a closed socket 1.3 cm. deep and a relatively
short, pointed spur. The line-hole is round and slightly counter-
sunk from each side. At the outer end of the harpoon head there is a
slot for the attachment of a stone blade. This harpoon head was
found in the upper levels of D Midden.

The broken harpoon head (Cat. No. 179091) illustrated in figure
11 is 6.5 cm. long. It has a relatively long, pointed spur and an

Fig. 11. Bone harpoon head
from Amaknak Island. Cat. No.
179091.

incipient, closed socket. The line-hole is triangular. On each side
of the harpoon head there are grooves leading from the line-hole
toward the socket. There is a trace of a blade-slot at the outer
end of the harpoon head where it is broken. This harpoon head is
decorated with a design that includes such motifs as the compass-
drawn dot and circle or dot and concentric circles with spurs. The
design is suggestive of Punuk and post-Punuk Eskimo art in northern

Fig. 12. Bone harpoon head from
Amaknak Island. Cat. No. 179313.

Alaska. This harpoon head was found in the upper levels of D
Midden.

The small harpoon head (Cat. No. 179313) illustrated in figure 12
is 5.9 cm. long. It has a closed socket 0.5 cm. deep and a short,
pointed spur. The inside of the spur is concave and this concavity
acts as an extension of the socket. At the outer end of the harpoon
head there is a slot for the attachment of a stone blade or point.
The outer ends of the slot are broken. This harpoon head was found
at A Midden.

20 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 36

STRATIGRAPHY

Six harpoon heads were found at the D Midden on southwestern
Amaknak Island. The D site was a large midden about twenty-four
feet thick. The upper levels of this site were in a roadbed cut through
the uppermost sixteen feet of the midden. The lower levels were
contained in trenches excavated into the lowermost eight feet of the
midden from the level of the road cut. Materials from the upper
and lower proveniences were kept separate at the time of excava-
tion, thus making possible stratigraphic analyses of a gross nature.
The materials from the lowermost eight feet of the midden are
indicative of an early period of Aleut culture, whereas those from
the uppermost sixteen feet are indicative of a late period.

Of the four harpoon heads from the lower levels of the D site,
one was unfinished and broken. The other three are of one style,
of which the most obvious characteristic is the presence of the spoon-
shaped bed for the attachment of a chipped-stone blade. This
style is characteristic of the early period of Aleut culture.

The presence of the early style harpoon head in the B Midden
on southwestern Amaknak Island is complemented by its association
with artifacts decorated in a style indicative of the early period.
This art style has been described elsewhere (Quimby, 1945).

The two harpoon heads from the upper levels of the D site also
conform to a definite style, the most obvious characteristic of which
is the presence of a slot for the attachment of a stone blade or point.
This style is representative of the late period of Aleut culture. One
harpoon head of the late style was found in the A Midden.

COMPARISONS

Jochelson (1925, pp. 54, 90; fig. 8; plate 27, figs. 17-29) describes
and illustrates some toggle harpoon heads of bone. Although his
descriptions and illustrations are not wholly adequate for compara-
tive purposes, the evidence he presents suggests that most of these
toggle harpoon heads were of the late type characterized by a blade-
slot. Some of the specimens he illustrates may not be harpoon heads
at all. What appear to be actual harpoon heads in Jochelson's col-
lection came from the islands of Umnak, Attu, Atka, and Amaknak.

Neither Hrdlicka (1945) nor Dall (1877, 1878) describes or illus-
trates toggle harpoon heads from the Aleutian Islands.

Weyer (1930, p. 266, fig. 17) describes and illustrates some toggle
harpoon heads excavated from a midden at Port Moller in the

«\*

Fig. 13. Types of Aleut harpoon heads from Amaknak Island. Top row:
late period. Bottom row: early period.

21

22 FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, VOLUME 36

Alaska Peninsula. Although these harpoon heads are different from
those described in this paper, they conform to the late type in that
they are equipped with blade-slots.

Hrdlicka (1944, figs. 120, 121, 122) illustrates some toggle har-
poon heads from his Pre-Koniag levels on Kodiak Island. These
harpoon heads have much in common with the late Aleut type from
Amaknak Island. The Pre-Koniag harpoon head shown by Hrdlicka
(1944, fig. 125) resembles rather closely the late Kachemak Bay
style (de Laguna, 1934, plate 38).

De Laguna (1934, pp. 80, 186-189, plate 38) describes toggle
harpoon heads from sites in Kachemak Bay in Cook Inlet. The
Kachemak Bay styles are different from those of Amaknak Island.
The late Kachemak Bay style, however, is characterized by the
closed socket and elegant silhouette somewhat similar to that of the
early period Aleut type on Amaknak Island.

Although the Aleut harpoon heads, especially those of the early
period, are different from the types of harpoon heads characteristic
of the culture stages in northern Alaska, one ancient harpoon head
from Punuk Island shares a few characteristics with the early Aleut
type. This ancient harpoon head, described by Collins (1941,
fig. 7), was excavated from the base of a midden sixteen feet high.
The harpoon head has a shallow, closed socket (but triangular,
rather than round or oval) and a bed for the end blade. In other
respects, however, the form of this harpoon head does not resemble
the early period type from Amaknak Island. The harpoon head
described by Collins was decorated with a simple geometric pattern
engraved upon both sides. The design is somewhat suggestive both
of early Aleut design and Dorset (Quimby, 1945).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Stylistic and stratigraphic analyses of the small collection of
bone harpoon heads from Amaknak Island indicate that there are
two major styles, each of which is characteristic of a cultural period :
Early period Aleut harpoon heads are equipped with beds for the
end blades or points, whereas late period Aleut harpoon heads are
provided with slots for the end blades or points (fig. 13).

The specific styles of Aleut harpoon heads are unique, but on a
more abstract level of comparison they could be included in a
southern Alaskan type along with some harpoon heads from Kodiak
Island and Kachemak Bay. With the possible exception of a style

QUIMBY: ALEUTIAN HARPOON HEADS 23

represented by one ancient harpoon head from Punuk Island, the
Aleut harpoon heads of the early period do not seem to be related
(except remotely) to northern Alaskan styles.

The toggle type of harpoon head does not seem to have been
important in the Aleutian Islands, where various styles of long
barbed harpoon heads of bone were much more numerous.

REFERENCES

Collins, H. B., Jr.

1941. Prehistoric Eskimo harpoon heads from Bering Strait. Jour. Wash.
Acad. Sci., vol. 31, no. 7, pp. 318-324.

Dall, W. H.

1877. On succession in the shell-heaps of the Aleutian Islands. Contr. N.
Amer. Ethn., Dept. Interior, U. S. Geog. Geol. Surv. Rocky Mountain
Region, vol. 1, pp. 41-91.

1878. On the remains of later prehistoric man obtained from caves in the
Catherina Archipelago, Alaska Territory and especially from the caves of
the Aleutian Islands. Smiths. Contr. Knowl., vol. 22, art. 6, pp. 1-35.

Hrdlicka, Ales

1944. The anthropology of Kodiak Island. Published by Wistar Inst. Anat.
Biol., Philadelphia.

1945. The Aleutian and Commander Islands and their inhabitants. Published
by Wistar Inst. Anat. Biol., Philadelphia.

Jochelson, W. I.

1925. Archaeological investigations in the Aleutian Islands. Carnegie Inst.
Wash., Pub. No. 367.

Laguna, Frederica de

1934. The archaeology of Cook Inlet, Alaska. University of Pennsylvania
Press.

Quimby, G. I.

1945. Periods of prehistoric art in the Aleutian Islands. Amer. Antiq., vol.
11, no. 2, pp. 76-79.

Weyer, E. M.

1930. Archaeological material from the village site at Hot Springs, Port
M oiler, Alaska. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthrop. Pap., vol. 31, pp.
239-279.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA

3 0112 004043805