Hunting Technologies and Archaeofaunas: Societal Differences Between Hunter-Gatherers of the Eastern Arctic

Abstract

This paper investigates human–animal interaction in two very different hunter-gatherer societies, Late Dorset and Thule Inuit, who once occupied the eastern Arctic (Canadian Arctic and Greenland). I focus on their disparate hunting technologies in order to achieve a nuanced understanding on how cultural factors influenced this relationship and to ultimately better understand why Late Dorset disappeared from the archeological record. I assess how hunting technologies impacted each society’s archaeofaunas and describe what appear to be culturally distinct trends in the faunal remains. In light of these findings, differences between Late Dorset and Thule Inuit hunting strategies, and other societal aspects including labor organization, hierarchy, and food provisioning are considered. This research discusses how generalized versus specialized hunting technologies impacted the social trajectory of each society, and methodologically, it provides a case study for how the use of specialized technologies can be viewed in the archeological record.