Eskimo Bat Wing Pendant

E 53) A rare form of ornament (possibly a pendant) with several aspects to it that can be visually related to earlier Asian cultures pointing us perhaps in a new direction in trying to define the origin of the Eskimo cultures as we know them now. This pendant is pierced through the front four times with no regard for the engraved decorative elements indicating that it was probably recycled at a later date. The four slits grouped as pairs connect to vertical cylindrical lodgings drilled from above down into the mass of the ivory. The overall form of this ornament is reminiscent - in a stylized fashion - of 8,500 € the so-called “cloud” objects in nephrite from the archaic Chinese Hongshan culture (4700 - 2900 BC). The two curved, branched and dotted lines that originate from the central circle/dot motif might be stylized caribou or elk antlers but what is most intriguing are the two stylized anthropomorphic beings each composed of an elongated diamond-form body over a circle/dot and surmounted by a long neck ending in another circle/dot with three notches. Two long curved arms jut from the diamond body and end with dots. These humanoid forms are remarkably reminiscent and stylistically similar to the anthropomorphic representations of the aboriginal Yami people of Taiwan. These visual similarities do not provide any plausible answers but they do possibly open up new subjects for discussion. Punuk Culture, Bering Strait, Alaska. Mineralize walrus tusk. 11,4 cm. 600 to 900 AD.