Look What the Boat Dragged In

Finds of pre-contact ulus, stone tools dating back 6000-8000 years, are rare. But every now and then, a scallop dragger off the coast of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI or Maine will haul one aboard. This ulu, Inuktituk for “woman’s knife”, was found by fishermen near Digby Neck, in the Bay of Fundy. A metal version of this stone tool is still used in the Arctic to butcher sea mammals and prepare hides.

Object type: 
Pre-contact artifact
Object #: 
BcDm-3:1
Collection name: 
Date (age/made): 
Middle Archaic
Origin/place: 
Nova Scotia
Materials: 
Lithic, Slate
Dimensions: 
Length - 259 mm, Width - 97 mm, Thickness - 13 mm