Fish-Hook

Date1800-1850

MediumBone, wood, sinew

DimensionsObject/Work: 420 x 60 mm

ClassificationsAgriculture/subsistence

Terms

Object numberC03266

DescriptionFish hook formed of bone barbs bound with sinew to a long thin wooden shaft.

Fishing implements of the Arctic usually had multiple puncture points to assist in hunting fast-moving fish. A hook like this would probably have been used for ice-fishing in more eastern Canada, where fishing with nets was uncommon. This fish hook appears very sharp and distinctly weapon-like, but most fish hooks were not sharp, being made solely to attract fish with a decoy so that a hunter could then spear his food.
Straits of Juan de Fuca.

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