Miniature penguin charm
Non-decaying fabric, derived from fossil fuels

Industrial Age

The fabric has worn away, but some details are still clear. This miniature penguin was buried with the deceased, along with three other objects. The now-extinct species lived both on land and in water, allowing it to embody two worlds. The penguin, a boundary crossing creature, may have been placed in the grave to help ease the transition between life and death. Its human clothing indicates a strong identification with the animal.

Despite mass extinction and a culture of human supremacy, many such animal-human charms have been found. It is possible that humans displaced their climate anxieties onto anthropomorphic charms, though it is unclear why these items were mass-produced at such scale.