Doing some serious Spring Cleaning now, going to put some exceptional pieces up, to make room for a few more exceptional pieces. The Okvik people walked the shores of the Bering Sea before the time of Christ. They represent a high period and their artifacts are prized for their decoration and design. It is believed that the Bering Sea was then home to 50 million walrus and several million Stellar Sea Cows and this provided ample food for Okvik peoples and so they were afforded the luxury of "time". Time to develop highly stylized artifacts. This gut scraper is great example, with 2000 years of patina and circular designs in the base it is unmistakably Okvik. Decorated items like these often served ceremonial purposes as well and this scraper was most assuredly used as a cup to give prey animals a last drink of water out of respect for giving their life to the Okvik. It is a beautiful piece, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.