Dorsétiens et Thuléens dans l’Arctique de l’Est canadien, quelle modalité de remplacement (~XIIIe siècle apr. J.-C. ) ?

Abstract

The exploitation of the animals, both their hard and soft components, is central in the lifestyle of the North American Arctic people. Studying the osseous industry allows understanding the adaptation proxies and peopling dynamics of the human groups, as well as their links with the climatic and environmental fluctuations. In the Eastern Arctic, Neo-Eskimo migrants (Thule) replaced Palaeo-Eskimo inhabitants (Late Dorset) around the thirteenth-century A.D. A technological study of osseous artefacts aiming at reconstituting the technical behaviours and cultural traditions of these two populations was performed. The Dorset osseous industry but not that of Thule has been reported to date. Even if discontinuities could be observed between the Dorset and Thule technological traditions, this study stresses that the break between the two populations postulated so far from genetic analyses does not show off in the technological exploitation of the osseous materials. When occurring, changes in the manufacturing processes seem to be slow and progressive. Does this reveal that Dorset and Thule peoples have exchanged more than previously thought?

Keywords

• Canadian Arctic
• osseous technology
• Dorset
• Thule