NAVIGATION

A Bering Strait Alaskan Punuk Eskimo Amuletic Walrus Ivory Toggle or Handle Depicting a Female Figure with Incised Linear Tattoo Marks on Her Face and Shoulders Two Holes for Attachment 
Signs of great wear smooth silky patina
Circa 600 - 1200 A.D

Size: 7.5cm high, 1.5cm wide - 3 ins high, ½ ins wide

 

Although carved with a minimum of surface detail, this otherworldly human figure has precisely rendered facial features. The number and variety of objects which served as amulets in the Arctic is remarkable. Personal charms were nearly always carried somewhere on the body: sewn on clothing, attached to a belt or parka, suspended around the neck or carried in a pouch. Most owned several and a few owned literally dozens, all of which they had to carry about. Others were incorporated into weapons or tools, usually carved as handles. The power of the amulet was ascertained by a shaman. Alternatively awareness of an object’s potential as a charm might be revealed spontaneously in a dream. Once acquired and recognised for its power an amulet would be handed down from generation to generation either along family lines or along lineage or clan lines.

Excavated at Brevig Mission Port Clarence Northern Alaskan Coast 
John and Valerie Arieta 1993
Ex Private collection Dr Alan Black