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Bow drill

Iñupiaq bow drill
ca. 1880–1920
Kotzebue Sound, Alaska
Ivory, paint
43 x 1.5 cm
Purchase
19/1629

A bow drill is used to make holes in bone, ivory, antler, or wood, as well as to start fire through friction. This bow drill shows a man with a bow and arrow hunting a band of caribou, as well as several does and their young. Traditionally, caribou were speared, caught in snares, or shot with arrows.

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