In 1917-1919, in the course of the John Wanamaker Expedition for the
University Museum, Philadelphia, W. B. Van Valin, with the help of
Charles Brower, the well-known local trader and collector, excavated
near Barrow a group of six tumuli, which proved in the opinion of Van
Valin to be so many old igloos, containing plentiful cultural as well
as skeletal material. The collections eventually reached the museum,
but due to lack of facilities they were in the main never unpacked.
I heard of this material first from Mr. Brower, with whom I sailed in
1926 from Barrow southward, and later with Dr. J. Alden Mason I saw
the collection still in the original boxes, at the University Museum.
In April of this year the skeletal remains were transferred to the
Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, and after their transfer I obtained
the permission of Dr. Milton J. Greenman, director of the Wistar
Institute, to examine the material, which was of importance to him in
connection with his own collections from Barrow and southward. A due
acknowledgment for the privilege is hereby rendered to both Doctor
Greenman and Doctor Mason.
The study proved one of unexpected and uncommon interest. The material
was found to consist of two separate lots. The first of these consisted
of a considerable number of brown colored, more or less complete
skeletons with skulls, proceeding from the "igloos"; while the second
lot comprised a series of whitened isolated skulls, without other
skeletal parts and mostly even without the component lower jaws,
gathered on the tundra near Barrow. At first sight, also, the skulls of
the two groups were seen to present important differences.
The "igloo" crania, while plainly pure Eskimo, proved to be of a
decidedly exceptional nature for this location. The skulls, in brief,
were not of the general western Eskimo type, but reminded at once
strongly of the skulls from Greenland and Labrador. And they were
exceptionally uniform, showing that they belonged to a definite and
distinct Eskimo group.
After writing of this to Doctor Mason, he kindly sent me a copy of the
notes and observations on the discovery of the material by W. B. Van
Valin, who was in charge of the excavation. The detailed notes will
soon be published by Doctor Mason. The main information they convey is
as follows:
The excavations by Van Valin date from 1918-19. They were made in six
large "heaps," approximately 8 miles southwest of Barrow and about
1,000 yards back from the beach on the tundra. Two of the heaps were on
the northern and four on the southern side of a ravine or draw formed
by a drain flowing from inland to the sea. The Eskimo at Barrow knew
nothing about these remains or their people.
Each of the heaps inclosed what in the excavator's opinion was an
"igloo" made of driftwood and earth; and all contained evidently
undisturbed human skeletons. The total number of bodies of all ages
was counted as 83, and they ranged from infants to old people. There
were many bird and other skins (for covers and clothing), and numerous
utensils. The hair on the bodies was in general "black as a raven."
Most of the bodies lay on "beds" of moss or "ground willows," or
rough-hewn boards. There was no indication of any violence or sudden
death. The bodies at places were in three levels, one above the other;
but there was but moderate uniformity in the orientation of the
bodies. There were found with the burials no traces of dogs (though
there were some sled runners), and no metal, glass, pipes, labrets,
nets, soapstone lamps or dog harness; but there were bows and arrows,
bolas, and ordinary pottery. The cultural objects, Doctor Mason wrote
me, resemble in a smaller measure those of the older Bering Sea, to
a larger extent those of the old northern or "Thule" culture. There
were some jadeite axes, indicating a direct or indirect contact with
Kotzebue Sound and the Kobuk River.
Some of the bearskin coverings were "as bright and silvery" as the day
the bear was killed (Van Valin); and the frozen bodies were evidently
in a state of preservation approaching that of natural mummies.
Notwithstanding indications to the contrary, Van Valin reached the
opinion that these remains were not those of regular burials, though
offering no other definite hypothesis.
Desiring additional information about this highly interesting find, I
wrote to Mr. Brower, who assisted at the excavations, and received the
following answer:
These mounds are from 5 to 8 miles south of the Barrow village
(Utkiavik). The largest that were opened were the farthest south,
and seemed more like raised lumps on the land than ruins. No doubt
that is the reason no one had bothered them.
The Eskimo have no traditions of these people. In fact they did not
even suspect the mounds contained human remains until Mr. Van Valin
started to investigate them.
While Van Valin thought they might be houses, I have always thought
they were burial mounds, as there seemed no family to have been
together at the time of death as often has happened. When whole
families have died from some epidemic, then the man and wife are
together under their sleeping skins. In these mounds each party was
wrapped separate, either in polar bear or musk ox skins; none were
wrapped in deer skins. If male, all his hunting implements were
at his side, and if a female her working tools were with her, as
scrapers, dishes of wood, and stone knives. The men had their bows,
arrows, spears, and often a heavy club, for what purpose unless
used in fighting I could not make out. At the head of each person
was a small receptacle, made of whalebone, and in it or alongside
was a long wing bone that had been used as a drinking tube. In some
cases there seemed to be the remains of food in the platters, but
that was impossible to identify. Most of the bodies were laid on
the ground, a few had the remains of scrub willow under them, while
only in two or three cases had there been driftwood planks under
the bodies; these were crudely hewn with their old stone adzes.
There seems to have been some sort of driftwood houses over these
bodies at some time, but they decayed and have fallen on the
remains, which were in some cases embedded in the ice. Often before
the frame had broken down earth must have accumulated and covered
the bodies. In these cases the flesh has the consistency of a fine
meal. While with those in the ice in some cases part of the flesh
still remained. In both cases when exposed to the air they rapidly
disintegrated, leaving nothing except the bones. By measurements
they must have been a larger race than the present people.
When your letter reached here I at once started making inquiries as
to what mounds were still intact; and I find that as far as known
only two of the larger ones have not been opened. The Eskimo have
been opening the mounds ever since they were found, taking from
them all the hunting implements and other material and selling them
aboard the ships for curios. It seems a shame that all this should
be lost to science, and if no one takes an interest in these places
in a year or two they will all be gone.
I have again made inquiries as to what the present Eskimo think of
these people, but they tell me they have no tradition regarding
them and that they do not know if they were their ancestors or not.
In fact, they are ignorant of where they came from or when they
died.
To date I do not know of any whaling implement being found with
these old people, neither is any of the framework of these mounds
made from the bones of whales. In some of the implements ivory has
been used. The mounds farthest from the shore were about 400 yards,
those that remain are closer to the beach. Some of the smaller ones
are on the banks of small streams but never very far from shore.
Undoubtedly, however, they were at one time considerably farther
from the sea, but the sea is every year claiming some of this land,
especially where the banks are high along the beach. There the
beach is narrow and during a gale the waves wash out the land at
its base. This is about all that I can tell you of these people.
All credit for finding these mounds belongs to Van Valin.
Yours truly,
CHAS. D. BROWER.
_The material._--The collection as received at the Wistar Institute was
notable for its general dark color, enhanced in many of the specimens
by dark to black remains of the tissues. There was no mineralization
and but little bone decay, though the bones were somewhat brittle.
There is a scarcity of children and adolescents; there are in fact only
two skulls of subjects less than 20 years of age in the collection.
The skulls and bones that remain show no violence.
The remains show a complete freedom from syphilis or other
constitutional disease; the only pathological condition present in some
of the bones being arthritis. This speaks strongly for their preceding
the contact with whites. The surface series, though smaller, shows
three syphilitic skulls. An additional fact of interest is the absence
in both the igloo and the surface series of all marks of scurvy. Such
marks are fairly common farther southward. Finally, none of the skulls
are deformed, either in life or posthumously.