Thule Culture

Thule culture is the prehistoric antecedent of modern day Inuit Culture of the High Arctic. Thule Culture was named for the type site in Greenland originally discovered and excavated in the 1920's by the Danish archaeologist Mathiasson. The Thule began in the Alaskan Arctic 1000-2000 years ago and made a rapid migration across the high Arctic to Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland. They came to inhabit nearly all the coastal regions of the Arctic and rapidly replaced the Dorset culture in the region. The adoption of baleen whale hunting in open water was a primary Thule innovation. The use of large skin covered boats called umiak allowed the rapid transport of entire camps and provided a platform for whale hunting. The Thule encountered the Vikings about 1000 A.D. in Greenland and engaged in both trade for metal and warfare. The Vikings soon abandoned Greenland, probably as a result of the Lesser Dryas, or Little Ice Age which precluded farming in Greenland. The closure of open water during the same period was difficult for the Thule as well who adapted by abandoning permanent coastal settlements in favor of mobile seal hunting camps on the ice. This was facilitated by the use of dogs and highly developed sleds along with other sophisticated Arctic technologies The Thule also hunted walrus, caribou, birds and fish. The Thule used pottery and stone for oil lamps and cooking vessels. Trade in metals for tools was widespread and consisted for a time of Viking iron but depended primarily upon iron-nickel meteorites and native copper from inland groups. As metal was scarce many tools were crafted of bone, antler, slate and flint.

From: Barnett, Don C. "Prehistoric Inuit Cultures." Posted: 25 May 1999. Accessed : 1 Dec. 1999. Available at: http://www.uask.ca/education/ideas/tplan/sslp/pre.htm

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