ANTH 336 New World Prehistory
Dr. Darlene Applegate
Fall 2006
Arctic/Subarctic
Culture Area
Archaeological Cultures
American Paleo-Arctic Tradition
- earliest sites in Alaska
- used lithic cores, blades, microblades
- hunted big game (horse, elk, bison,
caribou)
- no fluted points so not "Clovis people"
Paleoarctic Microcores (three views).
Anangula Tradition
- contemporaneous with Paleo-Arctic tradition
- located on Aleutian Islands
- greater use of marine resources
- use of lithic cores, blades, microblades
- type site is Anangula, Alaska; six semi-subterranean pit houses
with lithic workshops outside
Northern Archaic Tradition (NAT)
- 4000 BC to 2500 BC
- first movements into eastern Canada
- located in inland territory of Alaska and Canada tundra and
boreal forest
- adaptations to regional environmental conditions
- may be indigenous development or migrations from south or Alaska
Arctic Small Tool Tradition (ASTT)
- 2500 BC to about 100 BC
- microblades are diagnostic
- used animal resources of coasts and inland forests
- after 1000 BC increasing use of marine resources
- archaeological evidence of house form: The "tent ring is
referred to as a 'mid-passage' house. The outer ring of rocks would
have weighed down the edges of a tent made of caribou or seal skins.
The 'mid-passage' is formed by the parallel lines of rocks dividing the
interior of the house; at the center of the mid-passage there is a
small hearth or fireplace in which Arctic willow twigs or driftwood
would have been burned"
(http://anthropology.uwaterloo.ca/ArcticArchStuff/astt_fig_midpassage.html).
- includes Norton, Choris, Ipiutak, Old Whaling, Birnirk cultures
ASTT Migration Routes from Asia into the North American Arctic.
ASTT Lithic Tools: Scraper, Projectile Point, Microblade, Burins (left
to right).
Archaeological Evidence of ASTT Mid-Passage House: Tent Ring.
Pre-Dorset Culture
- 2000 to 900 or 600 BC, depending on area
- early material culture: box-shaped hearths, microblades, burins,
bone
needles, points, no boats or sleds
- early settlements reflect high mobility, small game focus,
low density, dispersal
- later material culture: lamps, microblades, burins, points,
toggling
harpoons, dogs, snowhouses, seal, walrus, caribou, fish
- later settlmements are more dense with
larger populations, lower mobility
- referred to as Sarqaq in Greenland
Archaeological Evidence of Pre-Dorset Tent Ring.
Dorset Culture
- developed from Pre-Dorset and Sarqaq (indigenous rather than a
new migration of people)
- 800 BC to AD 1000
- land and sea mammals used
- used stone lamps, kayak, hand sled
- according to Smith (1991) Dorset did not use dogs,
umiak, bow and arrow, whale gear
Dorset Culture Bone Harpoons (left) and Bone Needle, Circular Object,
and Barbed Harpoon (right).
Inuit/Eskimo/Thule
- ancestors arrived about 1000 BC to present; late prehistoric and
historic time periods
- indigenous name is Inuit (the
people), Anglo name is Eskimo
- many tribes (Thule, Nukleet, Nunamiut, Copper, Kobukmiut) but
rather homogeneous culture
- live in Arctic tundra, as far east as Greenland in prehistory
(first humans in tundra)
- one of most recent groups to migrate to Arctic/Subarctic
- probably came from west (east Asia)
- sea focus with use of skin boats and marine resources
- Thule developed after AD 500 from Birnirk culture of northern
Alaska and
replaced Dorset by AD 1000 to cover most of northern Canada
- Thule used skin
boats, bow and arrow, dog sled, harpoons, lamps, igloos
- Thule had rich
technology superior to Dorset; most tools still used today
- Thule had several house forms, including tent-ring houses and
semi-subterranean pit houses; whale bone was used in construction of
some houses
Inuit Bone and Ivory Hunting Tools
(left) and Other Ivory Carvings (right).
Top and Side Views of Thule Semi-Subterranean House.
Reconstructed Floor of Thule Semi-Subterranean House.
Archaeological Excavations at a Thule Semi-Subterranean House,
With Whale Bones Used as Rafters.
Archaeological Remains of a Thule Tent-Ring House.
Unless otherwise noted, all images are from http://anthropology.uwaterloo.ca/ArcticArchStuff/
For textual references, click here.
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Last updated on September 30, 2006
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