An historical ecology of Labrador Inuit culture change.
Item
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Title
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An historical ecology of Labrador Inuit culture change.
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Identifier
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AAI3074693
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identifier
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3074693
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Creator
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Woollett, James Malcolm.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Thomas H. McGovern
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Anthropology, Archaeology
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Abstract
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This dissertation reports the results of an historical ecology-oriented archaeological investigation of Labrador Inuit culture change during the contact period. The project involved four seasons of archaeological fieldwork and zooarchaeological laboratory analyses of faunal collections from Uivak Point 1 and several other sites in northern and central Labrador. The research provides the first detailed description of Labrador Inuit subsistence economies based on a detailed, regional-scale analysis of faunal remains. It also draws together archaeobotanical, palaeoentomological and palaeoenvironmental research and also ethnohistorical data, in order to define changes in the Inuit subsistence economy and their relationships to larger environmental and culture changes. This range of data sets and approaches are used to construct a landscape history for Labrador, linking complex climatic and ecological variables with historically situated agents and their economic activities.;In particular, the study examines the use of communal winter residences by the Labrador Inuit during the 18th century, a culture change that has been linked to environmental deterioration and economic stress during the Little Ice Age and, alternatively, to the social action of aggrandizers with circumstances of economic security and culture contact. These theories are tested with a variety of subsistence data that focus on the seasonality, diversity and productivity of Inuit hunting practices demonstrated in several well-dated faunal assemblages and on the roles of strategies of surplus production and stress management in economic decision-making. As well, a variety of high-resolution palaeoenvironmental records are used to determine the direction of environmental change and how it influenced economic opportunities.;The study suggests that the Labrador Inuit enjoyed a degree of economic security and success in the 18th century, aided in part by an interlude of moderated climatic and sea ice conditions. These conditions encouraged the use of cooperative sea mammal hunting methods, which were reinforced by the use of communal residences. This economy facilitated surplus-producing and risk-taking economic strategies and a more prominent social role for aggrandizers.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
