Harpoon head,

800–1200

This streamlined open-socket harpoon head displays the fine sculptural style of early Punuk carvers who are still using OBS spurred forms with vestigal barbs. The engraving has evolved beyond linear Okvik and curvilinear OBS styles but lacks the more mechanical line and drilled hole treatment of most developed Punuk harpoon heads. This form may be transitional to the later styles used along the coasts of southwestern Alaska, where Yup’ik hunters carried on the ancient Bering Strait harpoon traditions, employing harpoons similar to this one, with sculptural and engraved elaboration, well into the 20th century.