Bow Tools: Marlinspike And Sinew Twisters
date: label: Accession Date
content: 7 Jan 1869
name: label: Donor Name
content: Roderick R. MacFarlane
notes: label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Inuvialuit Pitqusiit Inuuniarutait: Inuvialuit Living History, The MacFarlane Collection website, by the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC), Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada (website credits here http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/posts/12 ), entry on this artifact http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/items/64 , retrieved 1-28-2020: A set of tools for attaching sinew backing to a bow. The set consists of a marlinspike and two sinew twisters made from bone or antler. Each has a drilled hole at one end, and likely at one time had been strung together on a thong. The marlinspike has five small notches cut into the end nearest the drilled hole, and two larger notches cut into the edges near that end. The ends of one of the cable twisters has been made to resemble seal heads. The shapes have been accentuated using shallow drilled holes to indicate nostrils, eyes and ears. More information here: http://www.inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca/item_types/11: Sinew backing was attached to a bow using a marlinspike and a pair of cable twisters. One end of the marlinspike is tapered, and is used to raise strands of sinew when lashing them to the stave, and for tucking in the ends of the lashings. Cable twisters are turned outwards in opposite directions at each end. They are used in pairs for twisting strands of braided sinew into cables that run along the centre part of the bow stave.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Northwest Territories, Canada, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 69A00012
label: USNM Number
content: E7448-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Marlinspike / Sinew Twister