"When Danish naval officer Gustav Holm was exploring the eastern coast
of Greenland in 1885, an Inuit named Kunit gave him this
three-dimensional wooden map.
The two parts form one whole: The bottom carving represents the coast
from Sermiligak to Kangerdlugsuatsiak, and the top is an island
offshore. The Inuit would carry these maps in their kayaks to navigate
the waters between the two landmasses."
Found in the
Futility Closet. Not sure where the Inuit got wood; it must have been a precious resource in the subarctic.
One of the books I'm part way through reading at the moment is "The Memory Code" by Lynne Kelly. I believe it would be right up your street and recommend it to you.
ReplyDeleteThe basic idea is that prehistoric monuments from around the world (Stonehenge being one example) were built as memory aids by people who were transitioning from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one. Previously they would have encoded their cultural knowledge in the natural landscape, but as they were no longer visiting their traditional sites they had to adapt by encoding it in artificial landscapes instead.
The connection to this post is the mention of landscapes, artifacts, and traditional societies.
searching my library system for a copy right now...
DeleteI-)
@Anonymous It hasn't actually been launched internationally yet, but it's been out here in Australia for a while. The launch in Europe and America is scheduled for February, so think of this a hot tip.
DeleteThe author has previously published another book on the same topic ("Knowledge and Power in Traditional Societies") but that's aimed at a more academic audience.
Ah - that explains why I couldn't find it in our library computer. I'll put in on my calendar to check later.
Deletethanks, Adrian Morgan, for the hot tip. there are several copies in libraries in the usa, but i can wait until february. it sounds like it will be a very interesting read.
DeleteI-)
Wikipedia says:
ReplyDelete"Plant-materials played a small role in Inuit culture, as they were so rare. Wood is scarce in the Arctic, except in the form of occasional driftwood."
Thank you, Adrian, for the mention and pointer to this fascinating blog. Much appreciated. In both books I also talk about the way portable objects were used as mnemonic devices, critical to retaining all the practical information on which survival - physically and culturally - depended. Well documented examples include the Australian bark paintings and tjuringa, African lukasa, Ojibwa birch bark scrolls, Native American songboards and so on.
ReplyDeleteMaps are of huge significance - mostly for practical reasons - to all oral cultures just as they are to literate cultures. Australian Aboriginal bark paintings often have maps as one element of them. However, in non-literate cultures, knowledge was also linked to physical places (much like the Ancient Greek 'method of loci') so an object such of this may well have been a much more complex device than just a map. Superb whatever it is!
Consequently, mnemonic objects made of valuable materials is not a surprise.
I ought to point out that the book Adrian mentioned above is currently available for preorder from Amazon -
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Memory-Code-Secrets-Stonehenge-Monuments/dp/1681773252/