Monday, November 19, 2012

Harpoon gets its lashings

I was putting the sealskin lashings on the harpoon shaft today.  The shaft is a spruce Christmas tree, because the archaeologist that ordered it is also a huge fan of Christmas.  Its based on the Groswater Palaeoeskimo harpoon shaft from the bog at L'Anse aux Meadows.  The bindings are all hooded sealskin.  When the lashings shrink and dry, the whole thing will be covered in red ochre.


It has a two part socket, with a lashed brace piece scarfed into place.

A slight narrowing on the original wood shaft is interpreted as a place to secure the harpoon line to the main shaft.

A whalebone ice-pick is lashed to the end where a long sloping scarf joint was preserved on the L'Anse aux Meadows harpoon shaft.

 Photo Credits: Tim Rast

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