Abstract. A comparison of identified faunal assemblages from the Dorset site of Phillip's Garden indicates that harp seal hunting was the main focus of activity throughout the site's occupation. Despite the highly specialized nature of site use, it appears that reliance on harp seal decreased over time while fish and birds became increasingly important. These changes may reflect longer seasonal occupations at the site in later centuries, and/or a decrease in the local availability of harp seal. The observed shift coincides with the onset of a local climatic warming trend, which might have affected harp seal movements in the area. Dorset subsistence and settlement patterns in Newfoundland are still poorly understood due to a lack of preserved faunal assemblages in the region. The temporal trend illustrated here indicates that we cannot assume that these patterns were static throughout the Dorset occupation of the island.

Archaeological sites in the Canadian Arctic often contain substantial quantities of marine mammal bones and in some cases completely lack terrestrial mammal bones. A distrust of radiocarbon (14C) dates on marine mammal bones among Arctic archaeologists has caused many sites to be insufficiently dated. The goal of this study was to investigate the marine reservoir effect on Atlantic walrus in the Foxe Basin region of the Canadian Arctic through a two-pronged approach: dating of live-harvested specimens of known age collected prior to AD 1955 and dating of pairs of animal remains (walrus and caribou) from stratigraphically contemporaneous levels within archaeological features. 14C dates on pre-bomb, live-harvested walrus indicate that a ΔR value of 160±50 yr be used in calibrating dates on walrus from this region. These results differed significantly from a similar set of pre-bomb mollusks, which argues against applying mollusk-based corrections to marine mammals. The results of comparative dating of caribou and walrus from archaeological features provided maximum estimates of reservoir ages that were more varied than the directly measured ages. Although about half of inferred ΔR values overlap the museum specimen results, the others indicate that the assumption of contemporaneity does not hold true.

This paper presents a detailed study of animal bones from a Late Dorset house structure and midden at the Bell site, Victoria Island. Previous research has shown seal to be the staple resource of Late Dorset subsistence in most other regions. Bones of terrestrial mammals such as caribou are rarely found in Late Dorset sites, leading researchers to suggest that Late Dorset people may not have been actively hunting caribou or that caribou population numbers were low during the Late Dorset period across much of the eastern Arctic. In contrast to other sites, faunal remains from the Bell site indicate that Late Dorset people living there were primarily dependent on caribou and Arctic char, and relied only minimally on seal. Thus, the Bell site presents a rare opportunity to understand terrestrial aspects of the Late Dorset economy.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines differences between Late Dorset and Thule Inuit subsistence economies at the Bell site on Victoria Island, Nunavut. This location is relatively unusual in the Canadian Arctic because local subsistence was based largely on caribou and fish, rather than the sea mammals that dominate in most other regions. For both periods, animal bone samples are quantified in terms of taxonomic frequencies, element (body part) distributions, seasonality, prey demography, and bone modifications such as cutting, burning, and gnawing. A comparison between the periods indicates many broad similarities in subsistence, but some subtle differences suggest that the Thule had a more focal and specialized economy, with a slightly different seasonal profile.Key words: Dorset; Thule; hunting technologies; taphonomy; subsistence economies; seasonality; zooarchaeology RÉSUMÉ. Le présent article porte sur les différences entre l'économie de subsistance du Dorsétien récent et l'économie de subsistance des Inuits thuléens au site Bell de l'île Victoria, au Nunavut. Cet emplacement de l'Arctique canadien est assez inhabituel en ce sens que la subsistance de la région reposait grandement sur le caribou et le poisson, et non pas sur les mammifères marins qui dominent la plupart des autres régions. Pour ces deux périodes, les échantillons d'ossements d'animaux sont quantifiés en fonction des fréquences taxonomiques, de la répartition des éléments (restes), de leur saisonnalité, de la démographie des proies et des altérations subies par les os, comme les marques de coupure, de brûlure et de rongement. La comparaison des périodes permet de remarquer de nombreuses similitudes générales sur le plan de la subsistance, mais certaines différences subtiles suggèrent que les Thuléens avaient une économie plus concentrée et spécialisée de même qu'un profil saisonnier légèrement différent.

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