Throwing-sticks in the National Museum / Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-'84, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1890, pages 279-289

by Otis Tufton Mason

POINT BARROW TYPE.

Through the kindness of Mr. John Murdoch, I have examined a number from this locality, all alike, collected in the expedition of Lieutenant Ray, U.S.A. (Fig. 6). They are all of soft wood, and in general outline they resemble a tall amphora, bisected, or with a slice cut out of the middle longitudinally. There is a distinct "razor-strop" handle, while in those previously described the handle is scarcely distinct from the body. Marks 3, 4, 5, and 6 are wanting. The index-finger hole is very large and eccentric, forming the handle of the "amphora." The groove for the harpoon or spear-shaft commences opposite the index-finger cavity as a shallow depression, and deepens gradually to its other extremity, where the hook for the spear-shaft is formed by an ivory peg. This form is structurally almost the same as the Anderson River type, only it is much better finished.