Monday, April 23, 2012

Ulukarsuuq - A “whaling dart blade”


This rather innocuous looking piece of slate was used by Inuit whalers to hunt whale. What is special about this spear head? It was smeared with juice from the root of the Monkshood flower (Aconitum delphinifolum).


Note: If you see this plant at all, do not touch it and certainly do not eat it as it is a nasty poisonous plant!!!

A simple hunting process that makes you wonder how they actually came to realise this was a useful tool for killing such a large animal... More information here. Fascinating stuff re man's ingenuity... And there is even a white whale here.

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