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Magnifying the differences : Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis

Siebrecht, Mathilde I. ; Desjardins, Sean ; Hazell, Sarah M. ; Lofthouse, Susan ; Cencig, Elsa ; Kotar, Kathryn ; Jordan, Peter LU orcid and van Gijn, Annelou (2021) p.51-72
Abstract
Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (c. 800 BC-1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices that were somehow ÷einforced over time and shared across the isolated sites and communities inhabiting this vast region. In contrast, recent theoretical developments
in the study of technology highlight that material culture traditions are reproduced through localized social practices, and involve both individual and community-based decisionmaking processes, which would predict a higher level of variability in local manufacture and design... (More)
Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (c. 800 BC-1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices that were somehow ÷einforced over time and shared across the isolated sites and communities inhabiting this vast region. In contrast, recent theoretical developments
in the study of technology highlight that material culture traditions are reproduced through localized social practices, and involve both individual and community-based decisionmaking processes, which would predict a higher level of variability in local manufacture and design features. Our aim in this pilot-study is to test whether Dorset artifacts are, in fact, produced and used in highly standardized ways. We focus on two important tool types crucial to survival in the North: needles and harpoon heads. We sampled assemblages from three Dorset sites located up to 800 km from one other and dating to different Dorset cultural
periods. Our results indicate that the sets of tools were made and used in very different ways despite their outward typological similarity. This may reflect the fact that local technological traditions were being learned and practiced differently at each site, though much more work is needed to fully understand the implications of these results in terms of social learning, cultural inheritance, and inter-regional interaction patterns. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Bones at a Crossroads : Integrating Worked Bone Research with Archaeometry and Social Zooarchaeology - Integrating Worked Bone Research with Archaeometry and Social Zooarchaeology
editor
Wild, Markus ; Thurber, Beverly A. ; Rhodes, Stephen and Gates St-Pierre, Christian
pages
51 - 72
publisher
Sidestone Press
ISBN
978-94-6427-006-8
9789464270075
9789464270082
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fd43a2b0-7a4c-4268-8442-eba1ae23b3d1
alternative location
https://www.sidestone.com/bookviewer/9789464270068
date added to LUP
2021-08-19 12:11:14
date last changed
2021-09-14 02:22:27
@inbook{fd43a2b0-7a4c-4268-8442-eba1ae23b3d1,
  abstract     = {{Arctic archaeologists generally accept that Dorset Paleo-Inuit (Tuniit) (c. 800 BC-1300 AD) toolkits exhibit high levels of typological uniformity across Arctic Canada and Greenland. This understanding implies that the artifacts were likely produced according to a standardized set of practices that were somehow ÷einforced over time and shared across the isolated sites and communities inhabiting this vast region. In contrast, recent theoretical developments<br/>in the study of technology highlight that material culture traditions are reproduced through localized social practices, and involve both individual and community-based decisionmaking processes, which would predict a higher level of variability in local manufacture and design features. Our aim in this pilot-study is to test whether Dorset artifacts are, in fact, produced and used in highly standardized ways. We focus on two important tool types crucial to survival in the North: needles and harpoon heads. We sampled assemblages from three Dorset sites located up to 800 km from one other and dating to different Dorset cultural<br/>periods. Our results indicate that the sets of tools were made and used in very different ways despite their outward typological similarity. This may reflect the fact that local technological traditions were being learned and practiced differently at each site, though much more work is needed to fully understand the implications of these results in terms of social learning, cultural inheritance, and inter-regional interaction patterns.}},
  author       = {{Siebrecht, Mathilde I. and Desjardins, Sean and Hazell, Sarah M. and Lofthouse, Susan and Cencig, Elsa and Kotar, Kathryn and Jordan, Peter and van Gijn, Annelou}},
  booktitle    = {{Bones at a Crossroads : Integrating Worked Bone Research with Archaeometry and Social Zooarchaeology}},
  editor       = {{Wild, Markus and Thurber, Beverly A. and Rhodes, Stephen and Gates St-Pierre, Christian}},
  isbn         = {{978-94-6427-006-8}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  pages        = {{51--72}},
  publisher    = {{Sidestone Press}},
  title        = {{Magnifying the differences : Investigating variability in Dorset Paleo-Inuit organic material culture using microscopic analysis}},
  url          = {{https://www.sidestone.com/bookviewer/9789464270068}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}