Sculpture Item Number: A16082 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Pecked stone sculpture with double-headed detail. Shape is oblong overall.

Narrative

Said by Ross Brooks to have been found c. 1944 in a mound along the lower Fraser River. Brooks, who ran a curio shop in Vancouver, said he collected dozens of stone carvings from the mound. However the site location was never disclosed, or discovered by other archaeologists, before his death in 1946. After he died his widow sold his collection of carvings - commonly called 'Brooks heads'. The carvings have been controversial since their 'discovery', as some archaeologists argue they may have been created by Brooks and manipulated to appear old. (For example, see discussion in the journal article "A New Look at Northwest Coast Stone Bowls", in Archaeology of Coastal British Columbia, pp. 165-174, by Grant Keddie.)

Cultural Context

archaeological