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ANCIENT REPRESENTATIONS: CARVINGS LINKING THE HUMAN & SPIRITUAL WORLDS

BEAR
BIRD
FEMALE
FEMALE-ANIMAL


ANCIENT REPRESENTATIONS
INTERACTIVE TIMELINE

Bear Representations

The bear is human-like in its skeletal makeup and among ancient northern peoples was a powerful spirit being who could provide humans with assistance and protection. Carvings of the bear tended to represent the bear's spiritual powers.

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Bear Sculpture, 976.178.1 The "headless" bear may express sympathetic magic, where the representation of the bear is ritually killed to secure hunting success.

Bear
Sculpture made of ivory
Thule (Neo-Eskimo) or early Historic Inuit
From Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska
Dating to about AD 1600-1800
976.178.1

Bear Sculpture, 976.178.1 Bear Sculpture, 985.205.16  
 
 
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