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Paleo-Eskimo
The Paleo-Eskimo (meaning 'old Eskimos'), also known as, pre-Thule or pre-Inuit, were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland before the arrival of the modern Inuit (formerly called Eskimo) and related cultures. The first known Paleo-Eskimo cultures developed by 3900 to 3600 BCE, but were gradually displaced in most of the region, with the last one, the Dorset culture, disappearing around 1500 CE.
Paleo-Eskimo groups included the Pre-Dorset; the Saqqaq culture of Greenland (2500–800 BCE); the Independence I and Independence II cultures of northeastern Canada and Greenland (c. 2400–1800 BCE and c. 800–1 BCE); the Groswater of Labrador, Nunavik, and Newfoundland and the Dorset culture (500 BCE – 1400 CE), which spread across Arctic North America. The Dorset was the last major "Paleo-Eskimo" culture in the Arctic before the migration east from present-day Alaska of the Thule, the ancestors of the modern Inuit.
The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) has proposed that scientists use Inuit and Paleo-Inuit instead of Eskimo or Paleo-Eskimo. The archaeologist Max Friesen has argued for the ICC's terminology to be adopted, and to capitalize the "P" in Paleo, to adhere to archaeological conventions in naming major traditions. In 2016, Lisa Hodgetts and Arctic editor Patricia Wells wrote: "In the Canadian context, continued use of any term that incorporates 'Eskimo' is potentially harmful to the relationships between archaeologists and the Inuit and Inuvialuit communities who are our hosts and increasingly our research partners"; they suggested using more specific terms when possible (e.g., Dorset and Groswater); they also noted replacement for "Palaeoeskimo" was still an open question and discussed "Paleo-Inuit", "Arctic Small Tool tradition", and "pre-Inuit", as well as Inuktitut loanwords like "Tuniit" and "Sivullirmiut" as possibilities. One 2020 paper in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, written by Katelyn Braymer-Hayes and colleagues, notes that there is a "clear need" to replace the term "Paleo-Eskimo", citing the ICC resolution, but note finding a consensus within the Alaskan context is difficult. In particular, Native Alaskans do not use the word Inuit to describe themselves, and as such, terms used in Canada like "Paleo Inuit" and "Ancestral Inuit" would not be optimal; they use the term "Early Arctic Pottery tradition" while noting a lack of consensus in the field.
According to Pavel Flegontov:
Paleo-Eskimo archeological cultures are grouped under the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt), and include the Denbigh, Choris, Norton, and Ipiutak cultures in Alaska, and the Saqqaq, Independence, Pre-Dorset, and Dorset cultures in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. The ASTt source has been argued to lie in the Syalakh-Bel'kachi-Ymyakhtakh culture sequence of East Siberia, dated to 6,500 – 2,800 calBP.
The relatively rapid spread of Paleo-Eskimos from Alaska as far as Greenland and Labrador may have been helped by their use of the bow and arrows. They are credited with introducing this technology to populations in Eastern Canada by 2000 BCE.
First Face is a paleo-Eskimo carving in the shape of an abstract human face made from walrus ivory that is between 3,900 and 3,600 years old. The artifact was located on Devon Island and is the oldest known depiction of a human face created in North America.
In February 2010, scientists reported they had performed the first genome sequencing of an ancient human. Using fragments of hair 4,000 years old, the National Museum of Denmark, the Beijing Genomics Institute, and additional collaborating scientific institutions sequenced nearly 80% of a Paleo-Eskimo man's genome. The man was found in Greenland and believed to be from the prehistoric Saqqaq culture.
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Paleo-Eskimo
The Paleo-Eskimo (meaning 'old Eskimos'), also known as, pre-Thule or pre-Inuit, were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland before the arrival of the modern Inuit (formerly called Eskimo) and related cultures. The first known Paleo-Eskimo cultures developed by 3900 to 3600 BCE, but were gradually displaced in most of the region, with the last one, the Dorset culture, disappearing around 1500 CE.
Paleo-Eskimo groups included the Pre-Dorset; the Saqqaq culture of Greenland (2500–800 BCE); the Independence I and Independence II cultures of northeastern Canada and Greenland (c. 2400–1800 BCE and c. 800–1 BCE); the Groswater of Labrador, Nunavik, and Newfoundland and the Dorset culture (500 BCE – 1400 CE), which spread across Arctic North America. The Dorset was the last major "Paleo-Eskimo" culture in the Arctic before the migration east from present-day Alaska of the Thule, the ancestors of the modern Inuit.
The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) has proposed that scientists use Inuit and Paleo-Inuit instead of Eskimo or Paleo-Eskimo. The archaeologist Max Friesen has argued for the ICC's terminology to be adopted, and to capitalize the "P" in Paleo, to adhere to archaeological conventions in naming major traditions. In 2016, Lisa Hodgetts and Arctic editor Patricia Wells wrote: "In the Canadian context, continued use of any term that incorporates 'Eskimo' is potentially harmful to the relationships between archaeologists and the Inuit and Inuvialuit communities who are our hosts and increasingly our research partners"; they suggested using more specific terms when possible (e.g., Dorset and Groswater); they also noted replacement for "Palaeoeskimo" was still an open question and discussed "Paleo-Inuit", "Arctic Small Tool tradition", and "pre-Inuit", as well as Inuktitut loanwords like "Tuniit" and "Sivullirmiut" as possibilities. One 2020 paper in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, written by Katelyn Braymer-Hayes and colleagues, notes that there is a "clear need" to replace the term "Paleo-Eskimo", citing the ICC resolution, but note finding a consensus within the Alaskan context is difficult. In particular, Native Alaskans do not use the word Inuit to describe themselves, and as such, terms used in Canada like "Paleo Inuit" and "Ancestral Inuit" would not be optimal; they use the term "Early Arctic Pottery tradition" while noting a lack of consensus in the field.
According to Pavel Flegontov:
Paleo-Eskimo archeological cultures are grouped under the Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt), and include the Denbigh, Choris, Norton, and Ipiutak cultures in Alaska, and the Saqqaq, Independence, Pre-Dorset, and Dorset cultures in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. The ASTt source has been argued to lie in the Syalakh-Bel'kachi-Ymyakhtakh culture sequence of East Siberia, dated to 6,500 – 2,800 calBP.
The relatively rapid spread of Paleo-Eskimos from Alaska as far as Greenland and Labrador may have been helped by their use of the bow and arrows. They are credited with introducing this technology to populations in Eastern Canada by 2000 BCE.
First Face is a paleo-Eskimo carving in the shape of an abstract human face made from walrus ivory that is between 3,900 and 3,600 years old. The artifact was located on Devon Island and is the oldest known depiction of a human face created in North America.
In February 2010, scientists reported they had performed the first genome sequencing of an ancient human. Using fragments of hair 4,000 years old, the National Museum of Denmark, the Beijing Genomics Institute, and additional collaborating scientific institutions sequenced nearly 80% of a Paleo-Eskimo man's genome. The man was found in Greenland and believed to be from the prehistoric Saqqaq culture.