From Chat, last night:

dv said:

Fascinating

An outline of the archaeology of Peary Land

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I also found the article fascinating (thanks dv), but had never before heard of the Dorset Culture. Interesting too (and saddening) that we may have lost the last vestiges of that culture just over a century ago:

“The Dorset culture (also called the Dorset Tradition) was a Paleo-Eskimo culture (500 BCE–1500 CE) that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It is named after Cape Dorset in Nunavut, Canada where the first evidence of its existence was found.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorset_culture

“The Sadlermiut (also called Sagdlirmiut, or Sallirmiut in modern Inuktitut spelling, from Sadlerk now Salliq, the Inuktitut name for the settlement of Coral Harbour, Nunavut) were an Inuit group living in near isolation mainly on and around Coats Island, Walrus Island, and Southampton Island in Hudson Bay. They survived into the early twentieth century and are thought by some to have been the last remnants of the Dorset culture as they had preserved a distinct culture and dialect from the mainland Inuit. However, their culture and local traditions seem to have combined elements of both the Dorset and Thule societies, which may indicate otherwise.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadlermiut

“DNA testing has confirmed these people were directly related to the Dorset culture.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorset_culture

Glad it interested you, MV, as it does me.

There are Dorset sites on Greenland’s northern coast dating to about 1000 years ago, including tools for sealing, taken as pretty good evidence that Greenland’s northern coast was ice-free for at least part of the year during the Medieval Warm spell.

BTW, knock global warming all you want, it is going to be a major boon to archaelogists who specialise in the high Arctic.

dv said:

BTW, knock global warming all you want, it is going to be a major boon to archaelogists who specialise in the high Arctic.

Aye they’re burning coal like muvvathingies

Throw an o in there.

Too many vowels. In archaeologist.

Actually scratch that … the advantages of greater accessibility might be undone by the rising sea levels covering their stuff.

Even their palaeoaeolian deposits.

Almost a palindrome.

And six vowels in a row: not bad.

Michael V said:

And six vowels in a row: not bad.

aw yeah. livin da dreem