Head of a mechanical dollA.D. 1000–1400 (?)Late Punuk or...

Head of a mechanical doll

A.D. 1000–1400 (?)



Late Punuk or Thule



Walrus ivory

This unique object may have once been part of a mechanical doll, a Siberian introduction. The flat back side would have been covered by a parka hood or headdress. The dot motifs drilled into the face resemble tattoos worn by Diomede Island men who added a tattooed dot above the upper lip for every whale killed. The markings underneath the lip were more common among women, although on rare occasions men were tattooed like women in Bering Strait to confuse the spirits of disease.

Princeton University Art Museum