Prehistoric archaeology of the Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland

Simpson, David N. (1986) Prehistoric archaeology of the Port au Port Peninsula, western Newfoundland. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This work presents the results of an archaeological survey of the Port au Port Peninsula which recovered evidence of: the Dorset, or Late Palaeo-Eskimo tradition (1300+/-80 B.P., Beta 7779 and 1350+/-60 B.P., Beta 7778), the Little Passage (790+/-70 B.P., Beta 7777), and Beaches complexes of the Recent Indian period, as well as two non-specific Palaeo-Eskimo occupations. Faunal remains indicate the season of occupation of the Port au Port site to be summer and possibly mid-winter for the Dorset, and summer, possibly extending through any of the other seasons for the Little Passage. The Dorset presence at the inland Long Pond site suggests that the Dorset seasonal round included spring of fall excursions into the interior. A paucity of data from the earlier periods is attributed to coastal flooding due to post-glacial sea level fluctuations. -- A preliminary lithic source analysis indicates that the Little Passage populations utilized locally available chert resources, while the Dorset obtained flakable lithic materials from a variety of more distant sources. Regional variation in the style of Dorset end blades across Newfoundland is argued to be partly a function of differences in the quality of chert between regions. The greater extent to which end blades of finer chert would be reduced by resharpening (tip-fluting) is proposed as the mechanism to explain the differences. Variability in the Dorset expanding flake end scrapers from the Port au Port site is considered to relate to several factors: the reduction in size and change in shape of a tool through its period of functional utility as a result of resharpening, and hafting requirements.

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