Neo-Eskimo Occupations of the Northern Labrador Coast

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Archaeological and historical information are brought together in an examination of the changing economic and social interaction spheres of the Labrador Neo-Eskimo from the Thule period through the 19th century. Animal availability, hunting technologies and strategies, and direct and indirect contact between Neo-Eskimos and various European groups are considered in a discussion of changing subsistence practices and settlement patterns. The paper pin-points a pattern of intensification and eventual disintegration of cooperative endeavours between Neo-Eskimo groups inhabiting northern Labrador.

“…They Gave Hebron, The City of Refuge…” (Joshua 21:13): An Archaeological Reconnaissance at Hebron, Labrador

“…Without more substantial excavations in the sod-houses and adjacent middens, it is difficult to interpret the significance of whaling for the Inuit in the pre-Moravian economy at Hebron. It has been noted that the dependence upon whales and whaling decreased dramatically during the early part of the 19 th -century (Kaplan 1980(Kaplan , 1983Taylor 1974). The early Moravian accounts indicate the disappearance of large whales to the extent that by the mid-19 th century, sightings were worthy of special note (Kaplan 1980:652).…”

“…Throughout the 18 th century, increasing amounts of European raw materials and goods were moving north along the Labrador coast. Small amounts of European derived materials have been recovered from test-excavations at sites between Killinek and Hebron (Kaplan 1980(Kaplan , 1983. In contrast to Eskimo Island (a large Inuit settlement near Rigolette in Hamilton Inlet), evidence at these northern sites indicate that raw materials were arriving through hand-to-hand trade.…”

“…It is approximately 130 m southwest of the other houses (Houses 2, 3, and 4), which are clustered together along the edge of a former beach terrace overlooking Hebron Harbour and the Dog Islands. These structures were briefly visited and sampled during the course of the Torngat Archaeological Project in (Kaplan 1980, 1983, when test-pits in the four houses…”

“…As their engagement increased, Inuit social relations and material culture changed as a result. As noted by Kaplan (1980), the presence of large numbers of center-fire cartridges is indicative of the increasing reliance on rifles that enabled individuals or small groups to pursue caribou which had formerly been taken in large communal, co-operative hunts. Sealing and fishing also saw an increase in productivity with the inclusion of nets as evident by the large amount of seal bone in every test-unit at Hebron and the prominence of the blubber-yard where seals were skinned and their blubber rendered into a high quality oil that was one of Hebron's principal exports.…”

From sambaquis (shell mounds) to plastic debris: a summary of the geological imprint of human occupation in the coast of São Paulo (Southeast Brazil)

“…The definition of the beginning of the Anthropocene in coastal areas is undoubtedly chronologically much younger than the human occupation of the coasts itself (Menzel, 1959;Kaplan, 1980;Stringer, 2000). Actually, the definition of the base of this new epoch is, somehow, still a matter of debate, since the geological/ geochemical evidence of the end of the Holocene can be interpreted in different ways (Steffen et al, 2007;Leorri et al, 2014;Irabien et al, 2015;Zalasiewicz et al, 2015;Waters et al, 2016).…”