Arutyunov S., Bronshtein M., Aleksashenko N. A Story about an Ancient Artifact and Eskimo Customs, Written for Three Voices

S. Arutyunov
Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-0195-3199
E-mail: gusaba@iea.ras.ru 

M. Bronshtein
The State Museum of Oriental Art
Moscow, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-4908-6784
E-mail: bronmi@list.ru 

N. Aleksashenko
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-3317-9978
E-mail: nataleksash@kunstkamera.ru

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ABSTRACT. The article discusses the use by ancient Eskimos of a walrus tusk artefact which was found in Chukotka during archaeological excavations of the Ekven cemetery. The object is a harpoon socket-piece and it dates back to the 1st millennium A. D. With its help, the bone warhead of the harpoon (harpoon head and foreshaft) was connected to the wood shaft. Unlike most similar items, this harpoon socket-piece consists of two parts which greatly reduced its strength and prevented it from being used for hunting. How, then, could the ancient hunters of the Bering Strait have used this harpoon socket-piece? Each of the authors has their own approach to the study of this largely unique find (ethnological, typological and traceological) and their own version of its creation, transformation and functions. Despite the differences in the authors’ positions, they all agree on the following points. Initially, the object was one-piece and was used for its intended purpose. After one of the parts was broken and lost, the damaged part was replaced by a fragment of another harpoon socket-piece. Judging by the similarity of the decoration on both parts of the harpoon socket-piece, its manufacture and subsequent repair took place in one local sub-ethnic group during the same chronological period - at the Early Phase of the Old Bering Sea Culture. Restoring the damaged part, the ancient Eskimo bone carver tried to restore it to its former strength, but this was not achieved in full, so the composite harpoon socket-piece was used as a “manual” when teaching Ekven boys the skills of handling hunting weapons of sea hunters. Later, when the artifact in question became unsuitable for this purpose, it became a ritual object and was included in the inventory of one of Ekven’s burials.

KEYWORDS: Chukotka, Ekven burial ground, harpoon socket-piece, use-wear

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2024-1(23)-260-284
UDC 9 03.01

REFERENCES

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