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Ipiutak 500- 900 AD

The Ipiutak culture flourished on the Alaska mainland concurrent with OBS cultures on the islands. Ipiutak artifacts were first discovered by Larsen and Rainey at Point Hope in 1939, but Ipiutak sites have since been discovered over a wider area (Anderson, 1984: 89-90). Based on their material culture, including technology and art style, it is clear that the Ipiutak, like the OBS peoples were descendents of Siberian immigrants.

Figural PendantFigural Slide H. 2 in. L. 2.5 in. The transition from realistic to geometric design is a common feature in Ipiutak decorative art and is one of the ways in which it deviates from the similiar art of Okvik and Old Bering Sea whale hunting cultures (Larsen and Rainey, 1984: 194). Although human sculpture is virtually unknown in Ipiutak art, the style is rich and varied. The two objects presented here, demonstrate this diversity; at the same time, both are instances of the favored Ipiutak animal head motif. The slide is the product of an aesthetic that reduces the formal complexities of the bear to an elegant abstraction with unidirectional energy. The sculpin pendant relies upon surface conturing and textural elaboration to capture the unmistakable aspects of its spiny subject.         OBS I / OBS II & III / Punuk / Ipiutak / Western Thule Historic / Modern