Identifier: handbooktoethnog00brit (find matches)
Title: Handbook to the ethnographical collections
Year: 1910 (1910s)
Authors: British Museum. Dept. of British and Mediaeval Antiquities and Ethnography Joyce, Thomas Athol, 1878-1942 Dalton, O. M. (Ormonde Maddock), 1866-1945
Subjects:
Publisher: (London) : Printed by order of the Trustees
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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sdogs are all killed. The Gilyak tribes are subdividedinto c\ai\s(Khal), the members of whichextend hospitality to each other ; thehead of the clan is a chief. Eachvillage has a council of elders whodecide disputes. Wives are purchasedwith boats, dogs, cauldrons, kettles,spears, or other useful oljjects ; poly-gamy is jiermitted, but is only possiblefor the wealthy. The principal musical instrumentsare a kind of guitar with a single string played with a bow, a wooden jews-harp, a rattle, and thefish-skin tambourine used by the Cham. The AinuThe Ainu are a hirsute race of short stature and pale skin. Themen are all bearded and long-haiied, so that their appearancepresents a strong contrast to that of their Mongolian neighljours.Their ethnical relations aie obscure, and it seems to bo a questionwhether they are not of Caucasian affinities. They now dwell onthe Kuiile Islands, in Yezo, and in the southern part of Sakhalien,but formerly occupied nearly all Japan until (hiven northwards by
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Fig. 48.—Bark vessel, Gilyak, 62 ASIA the Japanese. They may thus ))e regarded as the earliest inhabitantsof Japan, though they must have come into the islands from theNorth of Asia. From the earliest times at which they have beenkni)wn to Europeans thej have been in possession of metals, whichthey have obtained principally through the Japanese ; but theirancestors had only stone implements and rudelj^-fashioned pottery,such as are found in shell-mounds on the coasts of the islands (seePrehistoric Room, Wall-case 40, and Guide to the Antiquities of theStone Af/e. pp. 97-8). From Japan the Ainu now obtain almost all the domestic vessels and utensilswhich are not made of wood, andit is probable that the habits ofsmoking and diinking sake or rice-wine were also introduced fromthat country. The Ainu dividedtheir territory into districts, eachvillage having its j^articular boun-daries for hunting or cultivation.In each village there were chiefsand elders who settled disputes andawarded p

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