The Qajartalik Petroglyph Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Social Archaeology in the North and North Atlantic (SANNA 3.0): Investigating the Social Lives of Northern Things" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 2017, the Canadian government nominated eight places as candidates for future designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of those is Qajartalik, located off the coast of Nunavik, where more than 180 anthropomorphic faces were carved into soapstone outcrops between 1500 and 700 years ago by a Palaeoinuit population referred to as Dorset by archaeologists and Tuniit by Inuit. Qajartalik’s nomination for UNESCO status was submitted by the Avataq Cultural Institute, the Indigenous organization responsible for protecting and promoting Nunavik’s cultural heritage, at the behest of community members who recognize the site’s cultural importance for Nunavimmiut. With its successful nomination, work at Qajartalik is now shifting to focus on better understanding the site, along with a smaller group of petroglyphs on the mainland, with the goal of placing both within their larger cultural landscapes. This presentation discusses this collaborative and community-based research, highlighting work to date, as well as upcoming plans to digitally document the sites as part of an effort to better visualize, monitor, and preserve the petroglyphs in the face of ongoing environmental challenges.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Social Archaeology in the North and North Atlantic (SANNA 3.0): Investigating the Social Lives of Northern Things   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33367