Okvik Culture

a local variant of the Ancient Bering Sea culture (Old Bering Sea culture), which existed among the Eskimos on the coasts and islands of the Bering Sea from the end of the first millennium B.C. to the first half of the first millennium A.D. The Okvik culture, like the Ancient Bering Sea culture, is typified by the exceptional importance of hunting for sea animals, by semisubterranean dwellings, by the kayak and umiak as means of hunting and transportation, and by the absence of sled-dog breeding. The Okvik culture is distinguished from the Ancient Bering Sea culture by its harpoon heads, which have complex barbs and simpler, less detailed ornamentation.