137. Teller.—Old Eskimo site; some still live here with, a few whites. A few Eskimo camps along Tuksuk Channel.
138. Salt Lake (Imuruk Basin).—Ruins seen on north shore. (A. H.)
139. Old sites near eastern end of lake; a Chukchee-Eskimo battlefield in vicinity. (A. H.)
140. Old village site on the St. Marys River.
141. Burials reported.
142. Wales.—Old Nykhta, Zagoskin's maps; see special description; collections.
The Northern Shore of the Seward Peninsula
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.