Seal Harpoon And Float
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 Nov 1878
name: label: Collector
content: Edward W. Nelson
label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "SEAL HARPOON AND BUOY. A SHORT, HEAVY HEAD OF BONE OR HORN, INTO WHICH IS DRIVEN A STOUT STAFF OF CEDAR SECURED BY A BECKET; A WOODEN SOCKET IN THE END RECEIVES ADJUSTABLE TIP OF BONE, BARBED ON EACH SIDE, TO WHICH IS FASTENED THE LINE, MADE OF STOUT WALRUS OR SEAL HIDE; ON ONE SIDE OF THE STAFF, ABOUT ITS MIDDLE, IS FASTENED A CURVED BONE PIN, AGAINST WHICH THE FOREFINGER PRESSES TO STRENGTHEN THE GRIP WHEN HURLING. A BUOY MADE OF SEAL BLADDER IS ATTACHED TO STAFF NEAR ITS BUTT. LENGTH: STAFF, 49 1/4 INCHES; HEAD 5 INCHES; TIP, 2 1/2 INCHES. ST. MICHAEL'S, NORTON SOUND, ALASKA, 1878. 33,863. COLLECTED BY E. W. NELSON."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=543 , retrieved 12-28-2021; see web page for additional information: Harpoon, Inupiaq. The sealing harpoon had a barbed point set in a heavy bone socket to help the weapon punch through the animal's tough skin. The hunter grasped and threw the harpoon by hand, aided by an ivory stop attached to the shaft. A float made from a seal's bladder was tied on to make it more difficult for the wounded animal to dive with the harpoon dragging behind it.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 20 Jan 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Kigiktauik, Norton Sound, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 78A00080
label: USNM Number
content: E33863-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Harpoon
physicalDescription: label: Length - Staff
content: 125.09 cm
label: Unknown - Head
content: 2 m
label: Unknown - Tip
content: 6.3 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 145 cm