The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic
The Thule migration from Alaska to the eastern North American Arctic is central to the understanding of Inuit history. However, despite decades of study, its timing remains controversial, with recent reappraisals suggesting that it may have occurred much later than the date of A.D. 1000 most often a...
Published in: | American Antiquity |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2008
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046850 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0002731600046850 |
id |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0002731600046850 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0002731600046850 2024-05-19T07:28:17+00:00 The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic Friesen, T. Max Arnold, Charles D. 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046850 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0002731600046850 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms American Antiquity volume 73, issue 3, page 527-538 ISSN 0002-7316 2325-5064 journal-article 2008 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046850 2024-04-25T06:51:28Z The Thule migration from Alaska to the eastern North American Arctic is central to the understanding of Inuit history. However, despite decades of study, its timing remains controversial, with recent reappraisals suggesting that it may have occurred much later than the date of A.D. 1000 most often assumed for it. In this paper, we present newly obtained radiocarbon dates from two early Thule sites, Nelson River (OhRh-1) and Washout (NjVi-2), located on the Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf coasts. This region is crucial to any understanding of the migration, because Thule Inuit would have had to pass through it in order to reach the eastern Arctic. Nelson River in particular has long been considered a good candidate for the earliest Thule site east of Alaska, based on a number of lines of evidence including the presence of both Natchuk and Sicco harpoon heads. In this paper, we present new dates for Nelson River and Washout that demonstrate that neither site was occupied before the thirteenth century A.D. The new dates have profound implications for Arctic archaeology, because they strengthen the case for a thirteenth-century migration, and by doing so demonstrate that it was more rapid and widespread than has generally been believed. The dates also suggest that the "Classic" Thule period is a relatively brief phenomenon, lasting perhaps only 200 years or less, before being rapidly reorganized into the diversity of Inuit societies encountered in later Arctic history. Article in Journal/Newspaper Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea inuit Alaska Cambridge University Press American Antiquity 73 3 527 538 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
The Thule migration from Alaska to the eastern North American Arctic is central to the understanding of Inuit history. However, despite decades of study, its timing remains controversial, with recent reappraisals suggesting that it may have occurred much later than the date of A.D. 1000 most often assumed for it. In this paper, we present newly obtained radiocarbon dates from two early Thule sites, Nelson River (OhRh-1) and Washout (NjVi-2), located on the Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf coasts. This region is crucial to any understanding of the migration, because Thule Inuit would have had to pass through it in order to reach the eastern Arctic. Nelson River in particular has long been considered a good candidate for the earliest Thule site east of Alaska, based on a number of lines of evidence including the presence of both Natchuk and Sicco harpoon heads. In this paper, we present new dates for Nelson River and Washout that demonstrate that neither site was occupied before the thirteenth century A.D. The new dates have profound implications for Arctic archaeology, because they strengthen the case for a thirteenth-century migration, and by doing so demonstrate that it was more rapid and widespread than has generally been believed. The dates also suggest that the "Classic" Thule period is a relatively brief phenomenon, lasting perhaps only 200 years or less, before being rapidly reorganized into the diversity of Inuit societies encountered in later Arctic history. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Friesen, T. Max Arnold, Charles D. |
spellingShingle |
Friesen, T. Max Arnold, Charles D. The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
author_facet |
Friesen, T. Max Arnold, Charles D. |
author_sort |
Friesen, T. Max |
title |
The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
title_short |
The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
title_full |
The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
title_fullStr |
The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Timing of the Thule Migration: New Dates from the Western Canadian Arctic |
title_sort |
timing of the thule migration: new dates from the western canadian arctic |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046850 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0002731600046850 |
genre |
Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea inuit Alaska |
genre_facet |
Amundsen Gulf Arctic Beaufort Sea inuit Alaska |
op_source |
American Antiquity volume 73, issue 3, page 527-538 ISSN 0002-7316 2325-5064 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0002731600046850 |
container_title |
American Antiquity |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
527 |
op_container_end_page |
538 |
_version_ |
1799472187348877312 |