drum rim
Report a Mistake- Date Made --
- Event --
- Affiliation Dorset
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer --
- Object Number PfFm-1:1749
- Place of Origin Continent - North America, Country - Canada, Province / Territory - Nunavut, Township / District - North Baffin
- Category Tools and equipment for communication
- Sub-category Musical tools and equipment
- Department Archaeology
- Museum CMH
- Materials Wood
- Measurements Thickness 12.1 mm, Outside Diameter 200.6 mm
- Caption Drum rims with handles
- Additional Information Large tambourine-like drums are used by modern Inuit for dances and religious ceremonies. These Dorset specimens may have served a similar purpose.
- Caption An Ancient Way of Life
- Additional Information After sixty-five years of research, archaeologists now know much more about Dorset culture than Diamond Jenness was able to deduce from a single mixed collection. One of the most striking observations is the Dorset culture's apparent lack of several inventions that were later crucial to the Inuit. There is no evidence that they had float gear or even boats to use in sea-mammal hunting. We know that they successfully hunted seals and walrus, but they must have done so from the sea ice rather than on the open water. Similarly they lacked the bow and arrow for caribou hunting. Yet, they occupied one of the harshest environments on earth for fifteen hundred years. For all the hardships they faced, Dorset people were superb artisans, fashioning beautiful stone tools, often of miniature size. These tools transcend mere utility; the Dorset must have taken great pride in their craft.