Arctic small tool tradition
The Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) was a broad cultural entity that developed along the
2500 BC. ASTt groups were the first human occupants of Arctic Canada and Greenland. This was a terrestrial entity that had a highly distinctive toolkit based on microblade technology. Typically tool types include scrapers, burins and side and end blades used in composite arrows or spears made of other materials, such as bone or antler. Many researchers also assume that it was Arctic Small Tool populations who first introduced the bow and arrow to the Arctic, that eventually became the Eskimo archery material culture. ASTt camps are often found along coasts and streams, to take advantage of seal or salmon
populations. While some of the groups were fairly nomadic, more permanent, sod-roofed homes have also been identified from Arctic Small Tool tradition sites.
The Arctic Small Tool tradition includes a number of cultural groups, including the
Pre-Dorset culture in Arctic Canada, Independence I culture in the High Arctic and Saqqaq culture in southern Greenland. The ASTt was followed by the Norton tradition in Alaska and the Dorset culture
in Arctic Canada.
Siberian connections
According to Pavel Flegontov, ASTt may have originated in East Siberia about 5,000 years ago,
- "
The earliest form of the Norton tradition of Alaska is known as the
Mackenzie River Delta and Banks Island.[3]
Genetic DNA studies also support the connections.[4]
References
- bioRxiv 10.1101/203018.
- PMID 31168094.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8108-6822-9.
- PMID 31168094.
Further reading
- Bielawski, E. (January 1988). "Paleoeskimo Variability: The Early Arctic Small-Tool Tradition in the Central Canadian Arctic". American Antiquity. 53 (1). Cambridge University Press: 52–74. JSTOR 281154.
- Fagan, Brian. Ancient North America. Thames & Hudson, London. 2005, p. 179-81.
- Grønnow, Bjarne (2012). "The Backbone of the Saqqaq Culture: A Study of the Nonmaterial Dimensions of the Early Arctic Small Tool Tradition". Arctic Anthropology. 49 (2). University of Wisconsin Press: 58–71. JSTOR 24475857.
- Stewart, Henry (1989). "The Arctic Small Tool tradition and early Canadian Arctic Palaeo-Eskimo cultures". Études Inuit Studies. 13 (2). Université Laval: 69–101. JSTOR 42869667.
External links
- Park, Robert. "The Arctic Small Tool tradition". Retrieved October 12, 2012.