Iglosuat and sea ice hunting grounds: the contributions of environmental archaeology to the reconstruction of winter cultural landscape of Dog Island, Nunatsiavut

Summary

This presentation makes use of environmental archaeology data accumulated in the course of fieldwork in the Dog Island region of Nunatsiavut to reflect on the spatial structure and social dynamics of Inuit winter settlement and land use. Analyses of substantial faunal assemblages recovered from the sites of Oakes Bay 1 (HeCg-08), Koliktalik Island 6 (HdCg-23), Itibliarsuk (HdCg-56) amongst others, permit the detailed reconstruction of seals taken by hunters and consumed by households and, through their life history and palaeodemography, to characterize what types of types of animals were taken and when during the year. Combined with modeling of local sea ice conditions, these data provide means of elucidating tangible changes in subsistence economy and social organization of communities during periods of ongoing environmental transformation, in terms of the strategies of winter seal hunting, location of travel routes and social relations related to hunting.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Labrador Inuit and Europeans, Contact and Long-term Relations   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-66,06