ARCTIC LATE
- ASTt was first “pan-Arctic” (east and west) cultural tradition
- in west (alsaka) ASTt gives rise to Norton tradition (with
Siberian influences); in east to Dorset tradition
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Norton Tradition (3,000-1,000 BP)
- defined as a tradition by D.E. Dumond 1977
- includes 3 >cultures=: Choris; Norton; Ipiutak
- tradition thought to represent establishment of coastal and
near-coastal adaptation by ancestral Inuit (Paleoeskimo) after ASTt, but
before Thule
- all 3 cultures show similarity in stone tools, but only Choris and
Norton have yielded ceramics
- tradition eventually covers north, west, and south coasts of Alaska
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Choris Culture (3,000-2,500 BP)
- marked by introduction of ceramics (linear-stamped), and some changes
(from ASTt) in stone and bone tool technology: double-barbed harpoon heads,
bone needles, diagonally flaked bifaces, and probably labrets and oil lamps
- settlement pattern poorly known; two houses documented at Onion
Portage, 15 m and 8 m long oval winter houses -- multi-family
- subsistence: ringed seal important (probably hunted in winter at
breathing holes), also caribou, beluga; maritime focus developing, but not
highly specialized
- geographical distribution: from Seward Peninsula, north -- but esp.
in Bering Strait-Kotzebue Sound region (+180 sites), including Cape Krusenstern
- origins: poorly understood; maybe mix of ASTt, Northern Archaic and
Siberian cultures
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Norton Culture (2,500-1,000 BP)
- sites primarily distributed along Alaskan Bering Sea coast, lower
Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers
- assemblages include: well made, fibre-temper, check-stamped pottery;
variety of small chipped stone tools similar to Denbigh Flint (ASTt); weakly
stemmed points; large harpoon heads
- house features more common than in Choris; single-room,
semi-subterranean dwellings with sloping entrance passage and central hearth
- some villages very large (+400 houses) and probably permanent
- subsistence: sea hunting and fishing continue; river fishing (salmon)
important, also caribou hunting
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Ipiutak Culture (1,900-1,000 BP)
- sites mainly distributed north of Bering Strait -- Chuckchi Sea and
north coast
- some very large villages; Point Hope site (Bering Strait), 575 houses
(semi-subt, 4x4 m), 135 burials (physically same as modern Inuit)
- important technological differences from Norton: absence of ceramics
and ground slate; presence of elaborate artistic tradition, esp. carved ivory
-- linear-dot and abstract animal designs similar to Old World motifs
(Siberian, Scythian)
- subsistence: focus on breathing hole hunting of ringed seal; also
caribou; fishing less common than in Norton
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Dorset Tradition (2,500-800 BP)
- referred to as >tradition= because of wide disribution and time
depth (+1,500 years) in Eastern Arctic -- although some (R. McGhee) see it as a
>culture= (late phase of Paleoeskimo/ASTt tradition)
- evolved out of Pre-Dorset (ASTt) complexes in Eastern Arctic,
beginning in period 3,000-2,500 BP; stone drills and bow and arrow go out of
use
- diagnostics: harpoon heads with closed sockets, rectangular soapstone
lamps, flat bone needles, multi-notched ground slate knives, notched chipped
bifaces, microblades
- Early Dorset thought to develop in Foxe Basin area (north of Hudson=s
Bay)
- specialized in sea mammal ice hunting during period (2,500-2,000 BP)
of climatic cooling; also caribou hunting, occasional whaling (but without
sophisticated watercraft -- kayak, but not umiak)
- Middle Dorset (2,000-1,500 BP) associated with climatic warming, but
decline in population and abandonment of some areas
- Middle Dorset best known from Labrador coast and Nfld; focus harp
seal hunt
- Late Dorset (1,500-1,000 BP) represents cultural florescence;
population increase and expansion into High Arctic and N.W. Greenland
- florescence of Dorset art style; ivory, antler, bone, soapstone
carvings, usually of Arctic animals, including humans, often very small, highly
naturalistic
- Late Dorset “longhouses” also appear; rectangular stone structures,
up to 45 m long and 6 m wide; with axial stone alignments
- McGhee thinks these were ritual structures, but Friesen thinks they
were dwellings
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Thule Tradition (2,200-400/250 BP)
- includes Thule culture and its ancestors, Old Bering Sea/Okvik
culture and Birnirk and Punuk cultures
- thought to represent immediate ancestors of modern Inuit cultures,
and second great “pan-Arctic” tradition
- Thule first identified by T. Mathiassen (1920s), 5th Thule
Expedition; “A.V. Kidder of the Far North”; thought Thule was recent and
Alaskan in origin -- right on both counts
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Old Bering Sea/Okvik Culture (2200-1250 BP)
- probably developed on St. Lawrence Island in Bering Sea, with strong
Siberian influences
- highly specialized sea mammal hunting culture, including walrus and
whales
- overlaps with Norton culture, shows some similarities in pottery and
in art style (ivory carvings)
- diagnostics include introduction of umiak (large whaling
boat), ulu knife, and whaling harpoons
- sleds (but not dog sleds) used on ice -- all foreshadow Thule
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Birnirk Culture (1,200-600 BP)
- north Alaskan coastal culture, immediate predecessor to Thule
- heavy emphasis on sea mammal hunting, including open water pursuit
(kayaks and umiaks)
- mainly distinguished from Old Bering and Thule on basis of art styles
and harpoon styles (but all made sophisticated toggling harpoons)
- hunted seal and walrus, and maybe engaged in whaling? umialiks?
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Thule Culture (1050-400/250 BP)
- developed quickly out of Birnirk; two are distinguished on minor
stylistic changes
- mainly known for rapid eastward expansion across entire Arctic,
replacing Dorset in Eastern Arctic
- reasons for expansion may relate to climatic warming and eastward
expansion of Pacific bowhead whale, a Thule favorite
- also hunted ringed seal, walrus, caribou
- rapid expansion aided by boats (kayaks and large umiaks) and dog
sleds
- emphasis on whaling implies complex social organization, led by
umialiks
- settlements: “whalebone sod” houses in winter; tent camps in summer;
communities often small and centred around umialik
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Thule-Dorset Contact?
- most archaeologists say yes; Dorset were overrun by Thule expansion,
but little evidence of conflict
- M. Friesen’s Dorset longhouses (central Arctic) have early Thule
dates
- R. Park argues Dorset decline may have preceded Thule arrival