Curiously the spine of a human consists of 7 neck bones, 12 dorsal bones and 5 tail bones, 24 vertebra in all. Certainly this was noticed very early and thereafter incorporated into the myths, wherever suitable. 5 tail bones must correspond to the 5 extra days at the end of the year.

The constellation Quturjuuk has like Aagjuuk + Sivulliik four stars grouped as 2 * 2 and quturjuuk means the collar bones of a human being.

"A constellation comprising four stars arranged in two pairs as follows. Pollux (mag. 1.15) and Castor (mag. 1.97) in the constellation Gemini; and Capella (mag. 0.08) and Menkalinan (mag. 1.90) in the constellation Auriga. Quturjuuk means 'collar-bones'."

"Quturjuuk is a widely known Inuit constellation recognized from North Alaska through the Central Arctic to West Greenland. In Igloolik Quturjuuk was used as an indicator of both time and direction. Mark Ijjangiaq of Igloolik describes the constellation precisely:

These are the stars underneath the Tukturjuk (Ursa Major) known as Quturjuuk. There are two sets of stars, four stars in total, and they are brighter than others.

They are shaped like qutu (the collar bone) and it is from this appearance that their name is derived.

As we would travel at night heading for home after a hunt, with my father, I tried to make a habit of observing the stars as we trekked along, this was so I would know how late at night it was ...

From Northern Quebec, Salomonie Alayco recalls: 'My father asked me to go and check whether the constellations Quturjuuk and Attuuk were in sight at dawn before the first light of day. That's how we used stars to tell time in the morning ... "

(Arctic Sky)