Thule subsistence and optimal diet : a zooarchaeological test of a linear programming model

• Main Author: Whitridge, Peter James
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 1992
• Subjects: Thule culture > Nunavut > Somerset Island; Nunavut > Antiquities; Nunavut; Somerset Island; Thule culture
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61054

Thule archaeological sites typically yield large quantities of well-preserved faunal remains. These remains represent a wealth of information on a wide range of activities related to Thule animal-based subsistence economies, but have only recently been subjected to the quantitative ecological analyses that have increasingly concerned archaeologists elsewhere. This thesis involves the development of a linear programming model of Thule resource scheduling, and an explicit test of its applicability. When compared to the results of a detailed zooarchaeological analysis of faunal material collected from a variety of seasonal site types on southeastern Somerset Island, the modelling procedure was found to offer moderately interesting insights not otherwise attainable.