Lithic Raw Material and the Size of Palaeoeskimo Territory
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Pierre M. Desrosiers, Avataq Cultural Institute
Exotic lithic materials are remarkably frequent finds in Palaeoeskimo assemblages. By documenting the “chaîne opératoire” of tool production, it is possible to explain why and how some raw materials have travelled across such long distances from their source to final destination. This paper will discuss the different models that consider size of territory, exchange networks and/or direct procurement strategies. The notion of territory during the Palaeoeskimo period will be explored, using examples drawn from lithic quarry sites, production at residential sites, and ethnographic data.
Cinquante ans après Taylor, la faune du site dorsétien de Tayara (KbFk-7) : état des lieux.
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Hervé Monchot, Avataq Cultural Institute
Le site de Tayara à livré unassemblage faunique très bien conservé qui nous renseigne sur le comportement et leshabitudes des Dorsétiens il y a plus de 2000 ans sur la rive sud du détroit d’Hudson. Cet assemblage est largement dominé par les mammifères marins, phoque annelé, phoque barbu et morse et à un degré moindre le béluga. Les mammifères terrestres sont dominés par les renards (roux et arctique) et le caribou. Enfin, signalons que les oiseaux, essentiellement des eiders, représentent une part non négligeable dans l’alimentation. Les études archéozoologiques et taphonomiques montrent que nous sommes en présence de petites occupations d’un groupe humain (certainement une ou deux cellules familiales) très opportuniste, qui s’est établi en un endroit stratégique sur l’île de Qikirtaq (i.e., terrain sableux, accès à l’océan), lieu de passages de nombreuses migrations animales (morse, beluga, eider…) durant la belle saison.
Skin Working Process and Dorset Women across the Land: Functional and Socioeconomical study of lithic tools.
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Marie-Michelle Dionne, Université Laval
Understanding the “chaîne opératoires” of material culture production is a valuable way of accessing the world of technical and socioeconomical choices. Ethnographic data shows the importance of skin working for the production of clothing and equipment necessary to survival in the Arctic. The analysis of the skin working process gives access to: a) the management of the different phases of these technical activities in time and space, and b) the nature of women’s contributions during the seasonal round. This study demonstrates that, with a combination of use wear (using high power magnification) and spatial and gender analyses, it is possible to reconstruct a model of Palaeoeskimo socioeconomic organization and infer their social interactions. Three archaeological sites from the south shore of Hudson Strait (Nunavik) were used in this study, spanning from early to late Palaeoeskimo: Pita (KcFr-5/2800-2600 BP), Tivi (KcFr-8A/2600-1000 BP) and Tayara (KbFk-7/2125-1186 BP).
What Happened There? Perceive the economic strategies and social relations beyond Use Wear Data.
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Marie-Michelle Dionne, Université Laval
Determining tools function, by usewear analysis, is not a final objective. The interpretation of functional data must be used to address technical and cultural choices dimension and, in a larger perspective, socioeconomical strategies of hunter gatherer people. However, the use of ethnoarchaeology and anthropological concepts is necessary to achieve this goal. The study presented here concerns more specifically the prehistory of the Arctic. It will be shown that obtaining functional subcategories (high magnification use wear analysis) from typological categories makes it possible to observe a preferential organization, both in space and in seasonal cycle, of technical activities. Moreover, spatial analysis of those data allows us to study household dynamics and gender interactions.
Que s’est-il passé à cet endroit ? Percevoir les stratégies économiques et les relations sociales au-delà des données tracéologiques.
La détermination de la fonction des outils, par l’analyse tracéologique, ne constitue pas une fin en soi. L’interprétation des données fonctionnelles doit impérativement permettre d’aborder la dimension des choix techniques et culturels et, dans une perspective plus large, les stratégies socioéconomiques des peuples de chasseurs-cueilleurs étudiés. Or, le recours à l’ethnoarchéologie et à certains concepts anthropologiques est nécessaire à l’atteinte de cet objectif. Il sera démontré que grâce à l’obtention de sous-catégories fonctionnelles (analyse des traces d’utilisation à fort grossissement) à partir de catégories typologiques classiques, il est possible d’observer une organisation préférentielle, tant dans l’espace qu’au cours du cycle saisonnier d’exploitation des ressources, des activités techniques. De plus, l’analyse du mode de répartition spatiale de ces données permet l’étude de la microéconomie domestique ainsi que des relations entre les genres.
Foxe Basin and Hudson Strait: a territory shared by analogous cultural groups
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Claire Houmard, UMR 7055, Préhistoire et technologie
Foxe Basin is particularly well-known for its wealth of archaeological sites and the high quality of organic presentation found there. This permitted a thorough study of approximately 2,500 osseous objects from six different sites: the Tayara site from Hudson Strait and five sites from the Igloolik region - Parry Hill (Kaleruserk), Lyon Hill, Jens Munk (Kapuivik), Freuchen and Kaersut (K’aersut). Each site revealed different occupation sequences that viewed together covered the whole Palaeo-Eskimo period, from the Early Pre-Dorset to the Terminal Dorset. The long-term trends in cultural evolution could thus be reconstructed. The comparison of Tayara and the sites from the Igloolik region, in terms of typological and technological characteristics evidenced strong cultural analogies from the Final Pre- Dorset to the Middle Dorset phase: similar types of artifacts, similar choices in terms of raw material selection and similar technological practices.
Aivirtuuq (Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik) : Archaeology, fieldschool and potential for cultural tourism.
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Cencig, Elsa (Avataq Cultural Institute), Jennifer Bracewell (McGill University), Elspeth Ready (Stanford University), Hervé Monchot (Université Paris Sorbonne-Paris IV), Daniel Gendron (Avataq Cultural Institute)
Aivirtuuq is a peninsula located 40 km southeast of Kangiqsujuq (Nunavik). It is known to the Inuit as an old sea mammal hunting area, mostly walrus and bowhead whales. At the request of Nunaturlik Land Holding Corporation of Kangiqsujuaq, Avataq Cultural Insitute started an archaeological project in this area. Supported by the CURA-ASI research program, this project aims to promote local knowledge and cultural tourism. In the summer of 2010 an evaluation of potential was undertaken at the site. About 20 archaeological sites are known in the area, both historic and prehistoric. A historical butchering site (JiEv-15) and a Dorset longhouse (JiEv-4) are of particular interest. During summer of 2011, a fieldschool in archaeology for Inuit youth was undertaken at the historical site of Saunitarlik (JiEv-15). Aivirtuuq est une péninsule située à 40 km au sud-est de Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik), connue des Inuits comme étant un ancien lieu de chasse aux mammifères marins, principalement le morse et la baleine boréale. À la demande de la Corporation foncière de Kangiqsujuaq, Nunaturlik, l'Institut culturel Avataq, via son programme de recherche ARUC-ASI, y a entrepris un programme de recherches archéologiques dans le cadre d’un projet de développement sur le «tourisme culturel». Une première mission fut menée à l’été 2010 pour évaluer le potentiel archéologique d’Aivirtuuq. On y compte près d’une vingtaine de sites archéologiques, tant historiques que préhistoriques, dont notamment un site historique de boucherie (JiEv-15) et une maison longue dorsétienne (JiEv-4). À l’été 2011, un chantier-école en archéologie pour les jeunes inuits y fut mené sur le site historique Saunitialik (JiEv-15).
Saunitarlik (JiEv-15, Nunavik), a winter walrus kill-butchery site
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Monchot, Hervé (Université Paris Sorbonne-Paris IV), Elspeth Ready (Stanford University), Elsa Cencig (Avataq Cultural Insitute), Jennifer Bracewell (McGill University), and Daniel Gendron (Avataq Cultural Insitute)
The fauna from Saunitarlik is dominated by walrus, followed by ringed seal, bearded seal, and caribou. Dog, polar bear, beluga and a small rorqual (baleen) whales are also present in the assemblage. Osteometric study of the walrus mandibles indicates that the hunted population was essentially composed of juveniles, followed by females, and a few males. In view of walrus ethology and biology, this age structure suggests that JiEv-15 corresponds to a kill-butchery locale where walrus living on the northern side of the peninsula were hunted during the winter. Inuit groups occupied igloos near the butchery site and hunted walrus for ivory and blubber (possibly for commercial ends), as well for human consumption (of both fresh meat and igunak), and, in all likelihood, for dogfood. However, human diets at the site may have largely consisted of seals hunted in the vicinity as well as portions of caribou brought to the site.
Preliminary Results of the 2010 and 2011 Excavations at Point Ford (Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik).
(Session: Archaeological Perspectives on Arctic Territory, organized by P.M. Desrosiers and S. Lofthouse)
Benjamin Patenaude, Avataq Cultural Institute
The area that surrounds the present day community of Kangiqsujuaq (Nunavik, Quebec), has been witness to extensive occupation by human groups throughout the pre-historic and historic periods. Situated approximately 2.5 km to the Northwest of Kangiqsujuaq, Point Ford is one location that demonstrates this history of occupation for the area. The Quarmait site (JjFa-1) is situated along the Northern side of Point Ford. The first formal excavations at Quarmait were conducted by Avataq Cultural Institute during the summer of 2010 and 2011 at the request of the Nunaturlik Landholdings Corporation of Kangiqsujuaq. These investigations were carried out within the context of a field school aimed at promoting local history and the continued development of a cultural tourism package for the area. This paper presents the preliminary results of these excavations.
Old and new challenges in cultural management in Nunavik.
(Session: Informing and Implementing Archaeological Management Plans: Case Studies from Canada, organized by W. Moss and R. Williamson)
Daniel Gendron, Avataq Cultural Institute
Avataq created its Department of Archaeology 27 years ago to look after the archaeological resources of Nunavik. Its mandate was given by the Elders Conference. The Department has been carrying all manners of projects from salvage excavations, CRM, and long-term research projects. Always having to deal with two levels of Government: Provincial for the mainland, and Federal (now Nunavut for the islands). Although there have been a number of management plans devised, there has never been one aimed specifically at cultural management. Avataq has always worked out of the good will of the regional government and municipalities and landholding corporations. The upcoming implementation of the Plan Nord will necessitate the elaboration of a more concrete and solid management plan. This presentation focuses on the various ways in which archaeology has been carried out and how it should be developed from this point on.
