The Aberdeen Kayak and its Congeners

Abstract

The Aberdeen 'kayak' has much in common with an example preserved at Edinburgh. At the present day, the kayak is in use over a great extent of the Arctic regions, from East Greenland westward across Arctic America, and along some 800 miles of the Asiatic coast, both westward and south-westward from Bering Straits. The Aberdeen example is made of four seal skins stretched over a slender framework of wood. With the kayak are a paddle, a spear, a bird-spear, a throwing-stick, and a harpoon. All are made of redwood with bone and ivory mountings. Traditionally the kayak is thought to have been recovered some time between 1690 and 1710.