THULE, ALASKA

For more than two thousand years, Alaskan Native people have fashioned human figurines out of stone, bone, walrus ivory, rodent claws, trade cloth, and many other materials. Children played with such figurines (usually called dolls) but their other uses in both every day and ceremonial life are less well known.

By far the largest number and oldest examples of human figurines from prehistoric Alaska (the Okvik period of Old Bering Sea cultures) have been excavated on and near St. Lawrence Island. Punuk sites from the nearby Punuk Islands yield figurines whose body styles are like those of the Old Bering Sea cultures. Thule human figurines, unlike the preceding styles from the coast of Siberia and St. Lawrence Island, are found across the North American Arctic from the Bering Strait to Greenland.

This small doll, measuring two inches tall, is possibly the finest Thule doll extant. Excavated from an Alaskan site and is the only known example depicting a pregnant female. The doll is replete with a tall, conical coiffure typical of the period. The eyes, mouth, and umbilicus are indicated by small, round depressions. The actual purpose of this doll is unknown - perhaps it was a good luck amulet for a pregnant woman, was used for some didactic purpose, or was simply a child’s toy.

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