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Old 27th April 2009, 06:22 AM   #10
Jim McDougall
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Location: Route 66
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Curious is well placed here on this 'spear head', and I've been busy with searching in quite a few directions to add to the excellent observations already noted by Fearn.

As Jake has already noted, the Yakuts and natives in Siberia had metal working skills pre Russian invasion 16th c.

While this appears to be a lance head, and apparantly emplaced as a spear head, the whaling activity of natives in these regions is I think important to consider. I am not suggesting that this is a harpoon, but found some interesting notes concerning the use of iron in whaling by Native groups.
In "Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition" John Murdoch, Point Barrow Expedition (1892), on p.240 the superstitions of native whaling mention that of late, many of the natives had obtained ordinary 'whale irons' from the ships, and that in 1882, a very bad season had been considered due to this use of these foreign 'irons'. The tribal elders determined that this effect might be countered by the initial strike of the whale being with one of the ancient stone type harpoons used by the forefathers. Subsequent hits could use other means.

It is further noted that (1882) they found no signs of iron whale lances of native manufacture as made in Greenland and elsewhere.

The primary tribe associated with this whaling would be the Inupiat Eskimos who apparantly occupy extremely wide regions that include Greenland, Siberia, Canada and Alaska.

Murdoch (op.cit. p.242) also describes a form of lance which has a head somewhat similar to the one posted here, however the example he describes has a tang, although beveled edges on both faces are noted. The heads are not always iron, but of copper and brass as well.
These lances are known as 'deer lances' and are actually a spear which is called ka'pun' (= stabbing) in Point Barrow dialect, used by Eskimos in kaiak to hunt swimming deer.
The example of Jakes seems loosely similar in the shape of the head, but of course is socketed rather than tanged.

The term used is close to the weapon used in Greenland (kaput) used for long bladed spear used in dispatching harpooned seals.
There is a lance apparantly also used as a 'bear lance', of which we can assume the basic style is similiar.

It would seem that the wide range of habitat for the Inupiat which includes not only Greenland, Canada and Alaska, from regions near Nome, far to the north at Point Barrow but Siberia as well...perhaps the well known metal work of the Yakut, and others might have been widely diffused.
Siberian tribes such as Chuckchee and Koryak used lances, and to the west the lance was distinctly among Inuit weapons.

Another reference noted that iron and steel metalwork was used by Tlingit and Haida in making weapons during conflicts with Russia.

While these notes are of course inconclusive, they are meant simply to add to material being considered concerning this lance/spear head.

The markings or motif do seem to be likely to have considerable bearing for further research on this.

All best regards,
Jim
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