Late Dorset and Thule Inuit Hunting Technologies and Archaeofaunas: Implications for Societal Differences

Summary

This paper investigates human and animal interaction in two very different hunter-gatherer societies, Late Dorset and Thule Inuit, who once occupied the eastern Arctic. To access cultural differences I focus on how disparate hunting technologies impacted each society's archaeofaunas, and describe what appear to be culturally distinct trends in the faunal remains. In light of these findings, differences between Late Dorset and Thule Inuit hunting strategies, and other societal aspects including labour organization, hierarchy, and prestige are considered. How generalized versus specialized hunting technologies impacted the trajectory of each society is also discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Arctic and Subarctic Coasts: Current Research and Modern Challenges

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16469