Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis
Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (ca. 800 BC- 1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices tha...
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Sidestone press
2021
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/11370/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/593437556/9789464270068.pdf https://www.sidestone.com/books/bones-at-a-crossroads |
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ftunigroningenpu:oai:pure.rug.nl:publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 2024-06-23T07:50:08+00:00 Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis Siebrecht, Matilda Desjardins, Sean Hazell, Sarah Merina Lofthouse, Susan Cencig, Elsa Kotar, Katie Jordan, Peter van Gijn, Annelou Wild, Markus Thurber, Beverly Rhodes, Stephen Gates St. Pierre, Christian 2021 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11370/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/593437556/9789464270068.pdf https://www.sidestone.com/books/bones-at-a-crossroads eng eng Sidestone press https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 urn:ISBN:9789464270068 urn:ISBN:9789464270075 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Siebrecht , M , Desjardins , S , Hazell , S M , Lofthouse , S , Cencig , E , Kotar , K , Jordan , P & van Gijn , A 2021 , Magnifying the differences : Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis . in M Wild , B Thurber , S Rhodes & C Gates St. Pierre (eds) , Bones at a crossroads : Integrating worked bone research with archaeometry and social zooarchaeology . Sidestone press , pp. 51-72 . bookPart 2021 ftunigroningenpu 2024-06-10T17:01:53Z Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (ca. 800 BC- 1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices that were somehow reinforced over time and shared across the isolated sites and communities inhabiting this vast region. In contrast, recent theoretical developments in the study of technology highlight that material culture traditions are reproduced through localized social practices, and involve both individual- and community-based decision-making processes, which would predict a higher level of variability in local manufacture and design features. Our aim in this pilot-study is to test whether Dorset artifacts are, in fact, produced and used in highly-standardized ways. We focus on two important tool types crucial to survival in the North: needles and harpoon heads. We sampled assemblages from three Dorset sites located up to 800 km from one another and dating to different Dorset cultural periods. Our results indicate that the sets of tools were made and used in very different ways despite their outward typological similarity. This may reflect the fact that local technological traditions were being learned and practiced differently at each site, though much more work is needed to fully understand the implications of these results in terms of social learning, cultural inheritance, and inter-regional interaction patterns. Book Part Arctic Greenland inuit Tuniit University of Groningen research database Arctic Canada Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Groningen research database |
op_collection_id |
ftunigroningenpu |
language |
English |
description |
Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (ca. 800 BC- 1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices that were somehow reinforced over time and shared across the isolated sites and communities inhabiting this vast region. In contrast, recent theoretical developments in the study of technology highlight that material culture traditions are reproduced through localized social practices, and involve both individual- and community-based decision-making processes, which would predict a higher level of variability in local manufacture and design features. Our aim in this pilot-study is to test whether Dorset artifacts are, in fact, produced and used in highly-standardized ways. We focus on two important tool types crucial to survival in the North: needles and harpoon heads. We sampled assemblages from three Dorset sites located up to 800 km from one another and dating to different Dorset cultural periods. Our results indicate that the sets of tools were made and used in very different ways despite their outward typological similarity. This may reflect the fact that local technological traditions were being learned and practiced differently at each site, though much more work is needed to fully understand the implications of these results in terms of social learning, cultural inheritance, and inter-regional interaction patterns. |
author2 |
Wild, Markus Thurber, Beverly Rhodes, Stephen Gates St. Pierre, Christian |
format |
Book Part |
author |
Siebrecht, Matilda Desjardins, Sean Hazell, Sarah Merina Lofthouse, Susan Cencig, Elsa Kotar, Katie Jordan, Peter van Gijn, Annelou |
spellingShingle |
Siebrecht, Matilda Desjardins, Sean Hazell, Sarah Merina Lofthouse, Susan Cencig, Elsa Kotar, Katie Jordan, Peter van Gijn, Annelou Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
author_facet |
Siebrecht, Matilda Desjardins, Sean Hazell, Sarah Merina Lofthouse, Susan Cencig, Elsa Kotar, Katie Jordan, Peter van Gijn, Annelou |
author_sort |
Siebrecht, Matilda |
title |
Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
title_short |
Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
title_full |
Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
title_fullStr |
Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
title_full_unstemmed |
Magnifying the differences:Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
title_sort |
magnifying the differences:investigating variability in dorset paleo-inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis |
publisher |
Sidestone press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11370/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/593437556/9789464270068.pdf https://www.sidestone.com/books/bones-at-a-crossroads |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Greenland inuit Tuniit |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland inuit Tuniit |
op_source |
Siebrecht , M , Desjardins , S , Hazell , S M , Lofthouse , S , Cencig , E , Kotar , K , Jordan , P & van Gijn , A 2021 , Magnifying the differences : Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis . in M Wild , B Thurber , S Rhodes & C Gates St. Pierre (eds) , Bones at a crossroads : Integrating worked bone research with archaeometry and social zooarchaeology . Sidestone press , pp. 51-72 . |
op_relation |
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/34e1df7a-729e-409f-8384-c83114187203 urn:ISBN:9789464270068 urn:ISBN:9789464270075 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
_version_ |
1802641012033585152 |