Animal Derived Artifacts
Materials derived from animals made up 4% of the total artifact assemblage. Fourteen unidentified fragments of leather were recovered, as well as four pieces of baleen and one possible bundle of baleen. Baleen would have been used by the Inuit to make bows and arrows, harpoons, cups, buckets, fishing lines, bird snares and lines umiak, kayak and sled construction (Eber 1989: 29; Taylor 1988: 123). The Inuit also traded baleen to the Europeans, who used it to make a variety of items including carriage wheels, whips, corset stays, springs and fishing rods (Eber 1989: 29). Seven pieces of modified whalebone were also recovered. Whalebone was an important material for the Inuit in northern regions where wood was scarce. |
