| Summary: | Dependent on whaling, a series of complex, sedentary societies termed Old Bering Sea arose around Bering Strait at proximity to resource hot spots, ca. 250 B.C. to A.D. 400, thrived between A.D. 600 and 800 and with influences as late as A.D. 1300. Old Bering Sea developed adjacent to walrus haul-outs and was associated with the most elaborate aesthetic system known in the Arctic. Virtually every artifact was overlain with formalized motifs, as figural representations were crafted, of both animals and humans. This breakthrough was due either to internal societal dynamics or, alternatively, was an artifact of taphonomic factors, such as fortuitous site preservation. The origins of the culture remain obscure, as does its fate; its technology is related to subsequent Punuk and Thule cultures.
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