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Dear Aleks Many thanks, and it sounds like an excellent project. I have an old paper from 1985 that may help on the Greenland walrus hunting issue and I can send a draft of an in press paper with Sophia Perdikaris that is coming out in an edited book edited by Tina Thurston. For an up to the minute account of Norse Greenland, Inuit-Norse contacts, and some excellent papers on early N Atlantic connections generally I can strongly recommend an excellent new book edited by the excellent James Barrett (Ref below). For the latest on the increasingly interesting and complex story of Norse-Dorset-Thule interactions you might contact Dr. Pat Sutherland at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Jette Arneborg at the Danish National Museum. There are a lot of strange things relating to sea mammal hunting in Greenland- not only were there narwhal skulls buried in a line in the cathedral of St Nicholas at Gardar, but there was also a line of apparently complete (if tuskless) walrus skulls buried within the churchyard dyke at the same church. I believe that a carved walrus skull from the church in Bergen is illustrated in Grieg's typology but I seem to have lost the reference. Likewise there are quite a few little amulets (or at least pierced carvings that would suspend easily) made out of walrus post-canine (not tusk ivory) that are usually representing walrus or polar bear (but include at least one bird). It would seem that for the Norse Greenlanders the northern hunt was not just about economics, lots of magical things seem to be going on in association. There are some fine color illustrations of the amulets in the Fitzhugh & Ward Smithsonian Viking book as well as a good discussion by Jette Arneborg on the role of long distance trade. Given the wide distribution of walrus maxilla frags from around the tusk roots (nearly every archaeofauna has some, even from tiny farms miles from the sea) one wonders if there is a tax / tithe issue here or perhaps some sort of rite of passage (or both)???? No help on how narwhals become unicorns but Jette may have some references that can help. How old is the unicorn myth? Did it exist prior to the early Middle Ages? Best of luck with your project, please let me know if we can help in any way. Reference: J.H. Barrett (ed) (2003) Contact Continuity & Collapse: The Norse Colonization of the N Atlantic, Brepols, Belgium ISBN 2503512917 1985a McGovern, T.H. The arctic frontier of Norse Greenland,in: S. Green & S. Perlman (eds.) The Archaeology of Frontiers and Boundaries, Academic Press, New York, pp. 275 323. 2004 (in press) Perdikaris, S. & T.H. McGovern, Walrus, Cod Fish, and Chieftains : Intensification in the Norse North Atlantic, in T.Thurston (ed) New Perspectives on Intensification, Plenum Press. Thomas H. McGovern, Professor Coordinator North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO) Director Hunter Bioarchaeology Laboratory Anthropology Department, Hunter College CUNY 695 Park Ave, NYC 10021 USA fax: 212 772 5423 phone: 212 772 5410 email: [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Aleks [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 4:04 AM To: Thomas H. McGovern Subject: Re: [ZOOARCH] walrus again Dear Professor McGovern, My name is Aleks Pluskowski and I am a post-doc research fellow at Clare College, Cambridge and an affiliate at the department of archaeology. I have just started work on a project which explores the diversity of human responses to animals across medieval Europe from an interdisciplinary perspective, particularly focusing on differences between social groups and environments (e.g. urban, upland, coastal etc.). I have a query regarding the movement of faunal remains across the Atlantic into Europe and I appreciate that you are very busy but I would be extremely grateful for your advice on a query when you have a spare moment. One of the categories of my research considers the movement of non-indigenous fauna into western Europe, including body parts. In this context I was wondering if you could direct me to any scholars or bibliographic resources concerning the acquisition and distribution of narwhal ivory (and other elements) in medieval archaeological contexts - I am aware that Christian Pingel cites four or five narwhal skulls buried in the chancel at the bishop's farm in Gardar, but apart from that I have not found much else. I am particularly interested how the narwhal horn - which began life as a narwhal horn at the hands of an Atlantic whaler - ended up as a unicorn horn in the inventory (some are still extant) of a cathedral or castle in western and central Europe? Where and when did the identification and cultural association change, and why? I think it would be interesting to compare this process to the movement and changing perception of other exotic fauna (alive or in pieces) into Europe from distant lands. Thank you for your time and attention and I look forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely, Aleks Pluskowski ------------------- Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Downing Street Cambridge CB2 3DZ Email: [log in to unmask] Web: www.beasts-in-the-woods.org