This shore is but little known to science. It is dangerous of approach
to any except small boats. The only place that could be visited by me
was Shishmaref, a good-sized thriving Eskimo village, on both sides of
which along the sea are remains of old sites with burials. The more
important old settlement was that to the east of the village. Here
are found large and extensive heaps, the tops of which have recently
been leveled for fox cages, the whole site belonging, regrettably,
to a newly established fox farm. It is an old site, though probably
occupied up to white man's times, and is doubtless of some importance.
Excavations would still be possible, as the bulk of the remains is
intact; and though the surface skeletal material has been removed (part
saved for our collections), there are indications of surface burials
(assimilations by the tundra) in the ground.
Between Wales and Shishmaref are several dead sites, as shown on the
map, and some of them, judging from the information obtained, are of
promise. One of these settlements, "Tapkhaig," was evidently still a
living village at the time of Zagoskin (1840).
Northeast and east of Shishmaref the coast is known even less than that
to the west. A few miles off Shishmaref I saw from a distance--the boat
could not approach nearer--what to all appearances was a large ridge of
ruins, and from various maps and other sources information was obtained
of several other sites, all of which represent former villages. From
one of these sites on the Bucknell River Mr. Carl Lomen secured a fine
piece of fossil ivory carving, and the site is said to be of much
promise. The whole coast is a virgin field for archeology.
143. _Mitletukeruk._--Old village site. Visited by Collins, 1928;
collections.
144. _Tapkhaig or Ekpik._--Old village site, originally shown in
Zagoskin's general map.