Evening star., 1932-01-25
ARCTIC RESEARCH
AIDED BY AUTO
Smithsonian ArCheoIogiSt
MaroonS Self at Point
Barrow for Study.

Ice-locked Point Barrow, fartheSt
North settlement under the American
flag, is experiencing the thrill Of its first
automobile this Winter, while a volun-
tarily marooned Smithsonian Institu-
ton archeologist waits eagerly for the
break Of the Arctic Spring.
Around Point Barrow are four or five
large mounds, sites Of ancient villages.
They long have fascinated arCheologiStS
because they may mark the diffusion
point Of the Eskimo race and culture
from Alaska eastward Hitherto what
ever secrets they contain have remained
secure because of the extremely short
digging season.
The Smithsonian archeologiSt, James
A. Ford, went to Point Barrow last Au-
gust to eXCavate these mounds. 1t was
bad year for ice in the Arctic. The
ship on which Ford was a passenger
made slow progress, and long before
reaching the village it became obvious
that the ship could spend only a few
days there at the most. Ford on his
first important archaeological mission,
left the ship and walked over the ice.
Thus he reached the settlement a week
ahead of the cutter
But there was no time even to start
on the necessary excavations because
the craft was obliged to turn back al
4lIOoO 4illlutuldle1g. NO OIIleT snip COulQ
be expected before the next Summer
Ford decided that the only way to find
out what was in those mounds was to
remain all Winter start digging as soon
as the ground began to thaw in the
Spring and continue the work all Sum-
Iner. He has Just got through his first
letter to the institution.
Eskimo Customs Studied.
NrI {e
Arctic Winter studying the customs of
the Eskimo villagers and obtaining
palm and footprints, which may reveal
points Of racial difference. Meanwhile.
he writes, together with the village
schoolmaster and the radio operator
he has converted a small automobile.
brought in last Summer, into a motor
sledge by replacing the front wheels
with skis. With this contrivance the
three are taking long trips over the
Arctic in the brilliant moonlight They
have just finished a 300-mile trip to
the village OF Wainwright and return
locked so miles from shore
This is believed to be the first auto
mobile operated north of Nome. There
are no roads around Point Barrow.
The only transportation has been by
boat or dog sledge. The auto sIedge.
Ford writes, is the fastest means of
travel over the ice, but is far from
ideal, since the surface of the Arctic
is rough and there is constant danger
Of upset.
With excavations extending over an
entire Summer the Smithsonian archie
ologist hopes to establish a culture
sequence which may extend backwards
for at least 1000 years and possibly
show the starting point Of the famous
Thule culture" which extends along
the Arctic Coast of North America and
into Greenland Excavations on the
desolate st. Lawrence Island in Bering
Sea, a part Of the region between
Siberia and North America crossed by
successive waves of human migration.
have revealed an ancient culture of
great ingenuity and artistic merit. This
probably was developed by the ances-
tors Of the Eskimo. The earliest levels
showed the finest development. the OBJ
jects recovered growing cruder as they
approached nearer the surface. This
has been named the "old Bering Sea
culture" The migrants brought it with
them from Siberia. Their descendants
carried it to the mainland of Alaska.
From it the CharacteriStically Eskimo
Thule culture is believed to have
branched of, but nobody has been able
to determine the point OF separation.
Point Barrow Favorable.
A favorable place for this to have
happened, it is explained by Henry B.
Collins, Jr., of the Smithsonian staff,
who worked out the st, Lawrence Island
sequence, would have been Point Bar
row. There Is every reason to believe
that this sheltered spot on the Arctic
coast has been inhabited for a great
many generations. 1t appears to have
been a pivotal point in ancient migra-
tions in the Far North. Here, through
the centuries, the difficult environment
probably would have forced great changes
in the way of life.
The hope is that Ford, already eX-
perienced in Eskimo archaeology through
his participation in the st. Lawrence
Island excavations will be able to find
at the bottom of some one Of the an
cient village sites articles which will tie
up unmiStakably with the Bering Sea
culture and above them objects which
will show the transition to the Thule
culture complex. Point Barrow may
we'll have been cross roads Of migra-
tions long before the European discov-
cry Of the New World.
Ford, with as much native assistance
as he can secure, will dig in the village
mounds until the time for departure Of
the last Coast Guard cutter late next
Summer. Winter in the Arctic dark
ness in return for the opportunity to
work all Summer seemed to offer the
only hope of solving the problem. The
present day Eskimo of the neighbor-
hood know nothing of their predeces-
sors. They simply represent the last Of
q long succession of peoples which has
passed through this probable culture
crucible Of the Arctic in waves which
may have had no contact with each
other in time.