Stone processing

Indians were skillful stone-carvers: smoking pipes are marvelous samples of their work. In conformity with the tradition of Dakota Indians, who, in accordance with legends, originate from the Great Spirit, pipes were carved from red stones, but sometimes black stone was also used. The Tlingit carved chibouks of smoking pipes in the form of animal or bird figures, often in the form of complex combinations from these figures, while the stem of the pipe had no decorations. Southern neighbors of the Tlingit and Haida people in the 19th century mastered the art of black shale (mudstone) carving. Objects made of mudstone originally were designed for tourists, but it was due to this fact that masters were free in their choice of themes objects for depiction. They carved models of totem poles, figures of shamans and various caskets. Smoking pipes made for sale do not have holes, which means they are not designed for use. But they depict mythical scenes which was not typical of the Haida traditional art.

The first inhabitants of the New World mastered a perfect technique of processing stone and siliceous rocks. It was not second to the technique that ancient inhabitants of Europe mastered in the end of the ice period. Silicon was used to make points of missile weapons, scrapers r skins and other implements. These skills preserved until the epoch of contacts with the Europeans

Stone axe. USA, Russian America.		The Chugach. The first half of the 19th cent.		Stone knife. USA. Russian America. The Tanayna. The first half of the 19th cent.
Pikes of the chidadn type - the earliest in the New World. About 13.5 thousand years ago. Central Alaska, Nenana culture.		Pikes from Mesa settlement, Northwest Alaska, 12-13 thousand yeras ago. The objects belong to North Paleoindian tradition, possibly related to Clovis culture.