North America | Alaska
Animal figure
Alaska
Shamanic amulet depicting a wolverine
Ipiutaq culture, Ancient Eskimo
First millenium AD
Walrus tooth
Length: 7.2 cm – 3 in.
Provenance
Excavated from the permafrost in Deering, Alaska
Ex collection Jeffrey Myers, New York
Ex private collection, France
Ipiutaq Animal figure 7.2 cm / Galerie Flak
Price on request
The art of archaic Ipiutaq culture in Alaska is distinguished by an extraordinary bestiary with striking shamanic and skeletal motifs. The style observed in certain Ipiutaq sculptures suggests possible Sino-Siberian influence, with noticeable reminiscences of Anyang art, a Bronze Age archaeological culture in China associated with the late Shang Dynasty.
Upon crossing the Bering Strait from Siberia, it is believed that archaic Eskimo populations settled around Point Hope on the northwest coast of Alaska, coinciding with the emergence of the Old Bering Sea culture on the shores of Siberia and St. Lawrence Island.
Upon crossing the Bering Strait from Siberia, it is believed that archaic Eskimo populations settled around Point Hope on the northwest coast of Alaska, coinciding with the emergence of the Old Bering Sea culture on the shores of Siberia and St. Lawrence Island.
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