Top Secret Project of Mystery - Unveiled!

It turns out there aren't going to be any problems discussing the Parks Canada contract that I mentioned in the the last post, so updates on that project will become fairly frequent features on this blog's regular Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posts.

I'll be working on reproducing Inuvialiut artifacts that were collected during Parks Canada research in 3 Western Arctic National Parks; Aulavik, Ivvavik, and Tuktut Nogait. I have 24 artifacts to reproduce, although I'll be making two copies of several of them, so there will be 32 reproductions in total. The materials are predominantly whalebone, antler, and wood, although there are also copper, iron, tin, and ivory artifacts in the mix. The idea with these reproductions is to make exact copies of the artifacts that can be used in hands-on teaching situations to protect the fragile original artifacts. Several of these pieces are familiar to me because I made reproductions of the Ivvavik artifacts last spring, but the majority are new. There are a couple of adze sockets and a bow in two parts. There is a fragment of a Fort Garry Tobacco tin and a tiny copper awl.

On Wednesday I had a first view of the artifacts at The Rooms, were they are being securely stored in the climate controlled Archaeology and Ethnology Collections lab. Its very exciting and I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I have 3 wholesale orders to finish and Sunday's flintknapping workshop to prepare for before I can dive into this work. Today I'll be making pressure flakers and finishing up the last of the chert points that I need for necklaces.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Photo Captions:
Top: Barbed Point to be reproduced. Composite, bone and antler, with iron rivets. I'll also need to weather and antique the reproduction and match the pattern of lichen growth.
Bottom: Laying out the whalebone artifacts to see if I can get the appropriate sizes and shapes form the material that I have on hand.