About Slate Figurines

• Published in: American Antiquity
• Main Author: Keithahn, E. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1953
• Subjects: Kodiak; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600006636; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0002731600006636

In American Antiquity (Vol. 17, No. 3), Heizer reports “Incised Slate Figurines from Kodiak Island, Alaska.“ This Comment was concerned With a number of unusual incised slate fragments portraying human faces. Doctor Heizer was of the opinion that they were quite late, having come from the upper levels of stratified sites or from known recent sites. Comparing the features of these stylized portraits with Plate 17 “A Man of Kodiak” from Billings, London 1802 (reproduced here as Fig. 28 a with Heizer's Fig. 28, b ), one cannot doubt that they are recent. The elements besides the stylized faces are easily recognized as beaded ear and chin ornaments, and the typical squared collar of the Koniag of 150 years ago.