geology construction frames time tradition
structure nomads by gerald forseth
A preserved Archelon skeleton from the Mesosoic Era displayed at the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska.
Kayak frame ( ca 1910), Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks. Great speed and manœuvreability in both one- and two-man versions was achieved by the use of single two-ended paddles. Originally kayaks were clad with sea lion hides, stitched together with sinew then pulled tight over the frame to become extraordinarily waterproof. While the skin was replaced every few years, the frame often lasted more than a hundred.
It is a dynamic, celebratory and epic tale about animal and human migration where Asia greets America at the Bering Strait. Between 220-40 million years ago land masses from the south Pacific drifted north, filling in between fingers of anchored land, colliding with the peninsulas and creating the highlands of what is now Alaska – a geologic mesh of fragmented rocks, or terranes , with a wide range of origins, character and ages. Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and fires chacterised these continental drifts that rimmed the Pacific – tectonic activity from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Importantly, over geologic time, the nearby North Pole experienced many cycles of intense freezing then thawing. Ice sheets could be two kilometres thick, the heavy weight causing many northern land areas to sink. At the thaw cycle, land rose to become swamplands and grass fields with rich soil and fruit-bearing trees.
Traps for ocean fishing have been reproduced for the Pratt Museum. They are woven with bent willow and tied together with sea lion sinew cords. The sea lion provided other useful tools including bones that pierce and scrape and teeth that become fish hooks.
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