L'industrie osseuse de Tayara (KbFk-7, Nunavik) revisitée par la technologie

• Published in: Études/Inuit/Studies
• Main Author: Houmard, Claire
• Other Authors: Préhistoire et Technologie (PréTech), Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2015
• Subjects: [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Arctic; Nunavik; Dorsétien; eskimo*
• Online Access: https://hal.parisnanterre.fr/hal-01529077; https://doi.org/10.7202/1038146ar

International audience Bone tools from Tayara (KbFk-7, Nunavik) revisited by a technological study Tayara is one of the most famous Palaeo-Eskimo sites in the Eastern Canadian Arctic. William E. Taylor Jr. excavated it in 1958, and it has since become the main reference for defining Early Dorset characteristics. His study was based on harpoon head typology and on the animal and human figurines discovered, especially the famous little human mask. This site is also exceptional because several occupation levels were unearthed for up to a metre in depth. Although Taylor used Tayara as an Early Dorset reference, this dating was challenged in the early 21th century, and the Avataq Cultural Institute has undertaken new excavations in the central part of Tayara, near Taylor's trenches 1, 2, and 3. The present article offers a typological and technological study of bone tools (ivory, bone, and antler) found by Taylor (164 objects) and by the Avataq Cultural Institute (1,090 pieces). Unfortunately, the new excavations (levels II and III) are palimpsests that encompass different occupations over a period of 600 years, and Tayara can no longer be uniquely considered an Early Dorset site. Levels 2 and 3 from Taylor's trenches seem generally comparable to level III of the recent excavations and probably date from Late Pre-Dorset times, whereas level 1 and the "buried culture" layer seem more associated with level II, which is considered Middle Dorset. These inferred datings are supported by the new radiocarbon dates. Tayara est l'un des sites paléoesquimaux les plus renommés de l'Arctique de l'Est canadien. Suite aux fouilles de William E. Taylor Jr. en 1958, il a servi de référence pour définir le faciès Dorsétien ancien. L'étude de Taylor était basée sur la typologie des têtes de harpon, ainsi que sur les figurines humaines et animales découvertes, notamment le fameux petit masque. Fait assez exceptionnel pour l'Arctique de l'Est, le site de Tayara a livré plusieurs niveaux d'occupation superposés, parfois sur un mètre. ...