Dorset under the microscope:Using microwear analysis to investigate Dorset (Paleo-Inuit) organic material culture

• Main Author: Siebrecht, Matilda
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: University of Groningen 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; inuit
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/4375aab9-6be3-4ed6-a018-e3bbfba1cf48; https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/4375aab9-6be3-4ed6-a018-e3bbfba1cf48; https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.778728110; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728112/Title_and_contents.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728114/Chapter_1.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728116/Chapter_2.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728118/Chapter_3.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728122/Chapter_5.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728124/Chapter_6.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728126/List_of_References_Cited.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728128/Appendix.pdf; https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/778728132/Propositions.pdf

The Dorset cultures lived in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland around two thousand years ago (800 BC – AD 1300). Despite their relatively long time period and large geographic span, it has always been noted that collections of Dorset artefacts are “remarkably uniform” in contrast to other Arctic cultures. This has then led to further theoretical assumptions, for example that there was a high level of information and object exchange across the entire Dorset span. However, this is because Arctic archaeologists have mainly classified the objects based on superficial characteristics such as shape, style, and form (otherwise known as the typology). Microwear analysis is a scientific method that allows archaeologists to see microscopic traces showing how objects were made and used. By using this method, we can understand not just the finished objects themselves (which is the main focus of methods which look only at typology), but also the people who interacted with them. For example, we can learn about the choices made during the steps of manufacture, or the various ways in which different people used the same object type. This PhD project therefore challenges the assumption of “uniformity” of Dorset artefacts by using microwear analysis to look at them in new ways. Using this method, we can then gain further insight into how Dorset groups interacted with their material world.