Stock Cove, Trinity Bay : the Dorset Eskimo occupation of Newfoundland from a southeastern perspective

Robbins, Douglas Taylor (1985) Stock Cove, Trinity Bay : the Dorset Eskimo occupation of Newfoundland from a southeastern perspective. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The Dorset Eskimo culture has been a subject of archaeological research in Newfoundland for more than five decades. Sites were first recognized by W.J. Wintemberg and Diamond Jenness in the late 1920's, after the original definition of Cape Dorset culture in the Arctic by the latter researcher, and since then numerous other finds have been made and excavations performed. Since the time of the first Dorset research in Newfoundland there has not been, however, a consistent interest in Dorset Eskimo archaeology. Instead, it has experienced a number of “hot and cold" periods, during which it was either in the forefront of Newfoundland research or of little concern to archaeologists. -- Two major monographs stand as landmarks in the history of Newfoundland Dorset archaeology. “The Cultural Affinities of the Newfoundland Dorset Eskimo" (Elmer Harp Jr. 1964), compiled following fieldwork in 1949 and 1950, examined the occupation of the northwestern Newfoundland coast, and compared and contrasted this Newfoundland Dorset complex with Dorset culture in Hudson Bay, northern Labrador, Baffin Island, and Greenland. Nearly two decades later, fieldwork by Urve Linnamae led to the publication of "The Dorset Culture: a Comparative Study in Newfoundland and the Arctic" (Urve Linnamae 1975). Both of these works have taken comparative approaches, and as a result there has developed the idea that Newfoundland Dorset is in some ways unique, in part due to the insular nature of the region. Concurrent with this idea arose the concept of "typical" Newfoundland Dorset culture, which implied a commonality of Dorset culture - or the observable part of Dorset culture, namely stone tools - throughout Newfoundland. -- Through the 1970's and 1980’s the pace of Dorset archaeology quickened, as several excavations were performed in northern, eastern, southern, and western Newfoundland. This work permits a more detailed examination of Newfoundland Dorset culture than was previously possible, and it has become increasingly obvious that considerable variety, with respect to settlement, subsistence, and artifact styles, existed among the Newfoundland Dorset population. -- This study presents data from the Dorset Eskimo site at Stock Cove, Trinity Bay, where excavations were carried out in 1981. Contrasts between the stock Cove assemblage, and northern and western Newfoundland Dorset assemblages are notable, as are ecological differences between southern, northern, and western regions of the island. The hypothetical scheme presented in the last chapter suggests that there were at least three regional Dorset populations in Newfoundland, each adapted to local conditions, and distinctive with regards to subsistence and settlement, lithic material utilization, and the style of at least one artifact type, the harpoon endblade.

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