An Ancient Technique for Carving Soapstone Lamps
By Pierre M. Desrosiers
During work for a research project on Greenlandic steatite (soapstone), experiments were done to reproduce traditional paleoeskimo methods for making steatite lamps. This research project was conducted at the Lejre Center (a centre for archaeological experimentation), by archaeologists Martin Appelt and Mikkel Sørensen of the National Museum of Denmark. The work is documented in a short film entitled Fremstilling af grølandsk fedtenslampe.
This past summer the film was shown to Inukjuak students during an archaeology training session. Everyone was amazed to see Mikkel working the steatite without the use of either power equipment or even metal tools. In fact, the tools shown in use in the film were reproductions of paleoeskimo stone tools. These include an adze, a scraper, a chisel, and sandpaper made by rubbing sand against the object with a piece of leather.
Avataq Cultural Institute collaborates with the National Museum of Denmark of various projects, including the recent International Polar Year (2007-2008). The experiments shown in this film will certainly be of interest to those who have worked with steatite or who are interested in work on raw materials in use before contact with Europeans.
For more information on this film, you can visit:
www.lejre-center.dk
www.natmus.dk
Mikkel cutting an outline using a stone adze (still frame capture)
Detail of steatite being worked with a stone adze (still frame capture)
Planing the surface with a stone scraper (still frame capture)
Comparison of the archaeological artifact on the left and the lamp produced by experiment on the right (still frame capture)
Stone tools used for this experiment: (left to right) adze, scraper and chisel (still frame capture)
Martin Appelt explaining the use of paleoeskimo steatite lamps in Greenland (still frame capture)
