Alaska Ivory/Bone Treasures

Divin · Jun 14, 2010

Well in fairness this was not found today, it was about a week ago but the location I was in did not exactly have internet access.
I was on a short trip to Alaska and I mentioned to a friend up there I did a fair amount of metal detecting and he lent me his for a couple of days, I found a lot of gum wrappers, washers, bolts, and nails but when I was digging out a couple of nails near an old abandoned cabin I found these 2.
The smaller lighter one is some kind of Ivory I believe and the other may be some kind of bone, no idea what they are although the larger darker one seems to have some kind of purpose with the large grove and slot at one end.

There are small walruses carved on the smaller light colored one as well as a long horizontal fairly precise grove that runs along each side about 1mm wide and 1mm deep.

I posted in the "what the heck is this thread" but I thought I would share it with you Today's Finds junkies as well.

HH

Tom

mac762 · Jun 14, 2010

I don't know what they are but they're wonderful. The walrus is cute as all get out. Maybe the groove is some sort of arrow shaft straightener?
Thank you for sharing your find. I can just imagine someone snowed in hanging around the fire making those.

weston · Jun 14, 2010

those are awesome! banner!

Sir Digs-A-Lot · Jun 14, 2010

Hey Tom,
Check out the following link:
http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/gifts/ivories/function/

Under each category there is a link with photo examples. The following photo is under the "Ritual Objects" category. It lists the object as "Drum Handle(?)":

http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/gifts/image_popup.html?objectid=38118&page=back
Good luck with the research!

Dan

Divin · Jun 14, 2010

Thanks for the input I will take a look around that site as I try to figure out what these things are, not sure I understand the drum handle but hey its a start!