**Originally Listed At $600**

Native American, Pacific Northwest Coast, United States, Alaska, Pre-Contact period, Inuit, ca. 1000 to 1700 CE. An adze carved from a L-shaped piece of wood with a massive piece of fossilized mammoth ivory as the blade, secured by sinew cords. The rod handle slightly curves and an integral hafting face with a notch on the underside for anchoring the sinew. The ivory is polished with a beveled edge and curved shoulder that is wrapped in the cords. Pre-contact with Europeans, tools were traditionally made with stone or bone blades and served a variety of purposes such as chopping ice, digging, and shaping boats. While fossilized mammoth remains are an unusual choice, Late Pleistocene / Late Upper Paleolithic cultures used the mammoth's tusk for tools, and later cultures would discover the fossilized remains in the permafrost- the tusks proving to be very fracture resistant. Size: 18" L x 6.75" W (45.7 cm x 17.1 cm)

Provenance: private San Francisco, California, USA collection, acquired 1970s to 2000s

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#170435

Chips and abrasions to wood and pressure fissure near hafting head. Chips to ivory blade, but overall excellent. Sinew is tight and secure and great patina throughout.