Bowhead whale bones and Thule Eskimo subsistence–settlement patterns in the central Canadian Arctic

Abstract

ABSTRACTBowhead whale bones in prehistoric Thule Eskimo contexts have been examined since 1975 in the central Canadian Arctic. Approximately 10,500 bones, representing almost 1000 animals, have been counted on the shores of six adjacent islands. Comparisons of Thule-derived bowhead samples with live Beaufort Sea samples and Early Holocene samples indicate that Thule Eskimo hunters selected yearlings and two- to three-year-old subadults, to the almost complete exclusion of calves and adults. Almost all bowheads found at Thule sites measure 7–10 m in length, estimated by regression analyses based on Alaskan bowhead skeletons of known size. Archaeological bowhead bones represent several stages of past hunting and processing behavior, including selective hunting, beach flensing and meal/blubber caching, winter house construction, and bone re-use from house ruins. The availability and abundance of bowheads were primary determinants of Thule subsistence-settlement patterns in this region. Archaeological whale bones arc a nonrenewable cultural resource of the New World Arctic that deserve study and protection.