Wrist guard, Ancient Eskimo, Punuk culture, Bering Strait, Alaska
600 - 900 A.D.C.
Marine ivory
L. 11 cm - l. 5 cm
Wrist guard, Ancient Eskimo, Punuk culture, Bering Strait, Alaska
L. 4 ¼ in - l. 2
Provenance:
- Former private collection, France
Exhibition and publication:
- Espiritus del Agua - Arte de Alaska y la Columbia Britanica, Fundación la Caixa, Barcelona and Madrid, 1999-2000, pp. 78
Wrist guards were introduced into the cultures around the Bering Strait in Alaska in the early Punuk era, when hunters began to use bows. These carved ornaments served as protection against the snap of the string after the arrow was released.
Fine patterns in a series of curved lines follow the outline of the carving. The deep patina shows variations in hue characteristic of several hundred years in the permafrost.
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