Stone Sinkers
date: label: Accession Date
content: 21 Dec 1938
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Ales F. Hrdlicka
label: Donor Name
content: Dr. Ales F. Hrdlicka
notes: label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027. 2 of 23 sinkers on loan (#1 and #2)
label: Notes
content: From card: "Encircling groove near end; some used as hammers."
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entries on two artifacts with this number http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=498, http://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=497, and retrieved 5-15-2014: Sinkers, Unangax^ (Aleut), length 13 cm. and 15 cm. These stone fishing sinkers comes from an archaeological site on Umnak Island. They have a groove for tying on a fishing line, which was traditionally made from kelp seaweed. Stone fishing sinkers were made from beach cobbles. A line groove was pecked around the sinker by hitting it with a hard, pointed rock. From Elders' discussions of the sinkers in 2003 (see web page cited above for the full entries) with Mary N. Bourdukofsky, Vlass Shabolin, Maria Turnpaugh and Daria Dirks (Tanadgusix Foundation) at the National Museum of Natural History and National Museum of the American Indian, 4/07/2003-4/11/2003. Also participating: Aron Crowell and Bill Fitzhugh (NMNH) and Suzi Jones (AMHA). "For halibut, you're going to have to use a big weight in order to hold it right there. And actually, your sinker may go in-between rocks and get locked on the bottom, so when you go back the next day to get your halibut skates, you come from the opposite [direction]; if today the water's drifting north, and then you have to come in from the south to get it loose." - Vlass Shabolin. "You have to put it [halibut hook] down and you have the weights on it, big weights." - Mary Bourdukofsky.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 20 Jan 2023
label: Specimen Count
content: 23
place: label: Place
content: Umnak Island, Umnak Quad / Unalaska Quad / Samalga Island Quad / Aleutian Islands / Fox Islands, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Archaeology
culture: label: Culture
content: Prehistoric Aleut (Unangax^ ; Unangan; Unangas)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 149653
label: USNM Number
content: A395768-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Sinker