Mattock

3D Model

Mattock 982.040.399 (Model created by Cassidy Kudlak)

This whalebone mattock has three pairs of lateral notches with connecting grooves and a shallow rectangular hollow on the underside to act as a bed for the handle. The distal end is slightly angled, while the other edge is rounded, blunt and worn down from use. Mattocks were often used for stripping blubber from whale carcasses.

From Nelson River: The Nelson River Site (OhRh-1) is an early Thule Inuit archaeological site on the southern coast of Banks Island. It is one of several Thule Inuit sites in the area, an indication that the nearby waters of the Beaufort Sea were once rich hunting grounds for bowhead whales. The site was discovered in 1980, and archaeologists returned to excavate the deeply remains of a driftwood and sod winter dwelling in 1981. Well-preserved artifacts and animal bones were found on the house floor and in a midden, or trash heap, outside the entrance. Radiocarbon dates show that the dwelling was built around 1200 AD.