Ancient Eskimo Inuit Harpoon Ice Tester St. Lawrence Island Alaska Artifact
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:14868913 |
Making an effort to restock the Ebay store, figured I'd start with the staples. Every Alaskan Artifact collection has to have ice testers, period. Every Yupik hunter carried a harpoon and almost every harpoon had a durable "ice tester" at its base. These allowed the hunter to test the stability and strength of the ice pack as he hunted his way across it. This basic bulletproof design is thousands of years old and this particular specimen is easily 500+ years given its... dark patina. Ice testers came in many sizes and designs, the more intricate ones could be interlocked so that two hunters in separate umiaks could give each other extra stability while traveling side by side. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This a great specimen and excellent representative example of the classic Ice Tester. Last photo is on a 1" x 1" grid. Please look at my other Alaskan Artifacts.
