Harpoon head (Harpun), Mesolithic, from Trelleborg, Sjaelland, Denmark

Harpoon counterweight, of fossilised walrus ivory, extensively engraved: North America, USA, Alaska, Bering Strait, St Lawrence Island, Ivetok, Old Bering Sea II Inuit, c. 100 - 300 AD

Copper alloy harpoon head, a rod with a pointed and barbed point: Ancient Egyptian, Early Dynastic, c.3000-2686 BC

Harpoon head, of barbed bone, secured with sinew, birch bark and resin to a wooden socket, with a line of twisted strands of animal fibre coiled round with cedar bark: North America, Canada, Vancouver Island, Nuu-chah-nulth, late 18th century

Barbed harpoon head, of bone, with line of wrapped sinew attached: North America, Canada, British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Nuu-chah-nulth, late 18th century

Harpoon line, of walrus hide, with two harpoon heads, of bone, copper and stone: North America, Canada, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Inuit, early - mid 19th century

Whale and walrus harpoon consisting of a spruce shaft, walrus ivory foreshaft with a socket, walrus ivory ice pick, an ivory finger-rest and line-catch: North America, USA, Alaska, Point Barrow, Western Region Inuit

Small harpoon consisting of a foreshaft of walrus ivory with a small disengaging barbed ivory point attached to the wooden shaft by thong: Inuit, Kotzebue Sound, Alaska

Whale and walrus harpoon, with spruce shaft, walrus bone foreshaft, walrus ivory point secured to the shaft and foreshaft, ice-pick, finger-rest and line-catch: North America, USA, Alaska, Point Barrow, Arctic, Inupiat, 1820s

Model of a harpoon rest carved from walrus ivory, part of a model of a seated seal hunter on a wooden stand: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model of a harpoon carved from walrus ivory, part of a model of a seated seal hunter on a wooden stand: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model sealing harpoon of ivory with wooden shaft: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, possibly by Peter Pitsulak, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model of a harpoon carved from walrus ivory, part of a group with models of a kayak, hunter, harpoon, hunting hook and rifle: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, possibly by Peter Pitsulak, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model of a harpoon carved from walrus ivory, part of a group with models of a kayak, hunter, harpoon, hunting hook and rifle: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, possibly by Peter Pitsulak, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model of a harpoon carved from walrus ivory, with a leather line: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, possibly by Peter Pitsulak, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939

Model of a harpoon of walrus ivory and wood, with a walrus ivory float attached by cotton thread: North America, Canada, Baffin Island, Cape Dorset, Inuit, possibly by Peter Pitsulak, collected by John N.S. Buchan, 1938 - 1939