The invention of the lamp for burning sea-mammal oil made possible the winter heating of closed dwellings. The original Alaskan lamps were of pottery, but the Thule people began carving lamps and pots from soapstone in arctic Canada. This shallow triangular lamp is approximately thirty centimetres across. The wick ledge is along the lower edge, and the four raised knobs separated the oil from unrendered blubber. Note the holes drilled along the right edge in an attempt to repair a broken edge by tying the broken fragment to the lamp.
