Notes
This pendant is created from soapstone, the same material as the oil lamp artifact (143/5363) behind it. While we are not sure of the origin of this soapstone pendant, it is likely from either one of the Arctic/Alaska Indigenous Peoples or from the East Coast Native American tribes. Soapstone is a metamorphic rock that was used extensively all over the present-day United States; however it is most prevalently found in Alaska, where its low heat conduction made it an ideal material to make lamps out of, and on the East coast, where Native tribes used the stone for almost 4000 years to make cooking vessels, bowls, pipes, and ornaments. It is an incredibly soft stone. which makes it easy for carving and manipulation.
