Salmon Net (EfAx-25): an investigation of Groswater material culture stylistic variability in Newfoundland

Melnik, Mary Edith (2007) Salmon Net (EfAx-25): an investigation of Groswater material culture stylistic variability in Newfoundland. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This research examines the issue of Groswater material culture stylistic variability in Newfoundland. An excavation of the Salmon Net site, located on the east coast of the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland outside the town of Conche, introduced the possibility that Groswater lithic assemblages could be stylistically mixed and/or more variable than researchers previously proposed. The excavation produced a Groswater lithic assemblage that included a mix of stylistically "typical" and "variant" material culture as well as a unique "Salmon Net-type" of endblade. Prior to this investigation Renouf (2005) first noticed and defined Groswater Palaeoeskimo stylistically variability exclusively as the difference between Phillip's Garden East, which generated a stylistically "typical" Groswater assemblage and Phillip's Garden West, which generated a stylistically "variant" Groswater assemblage. -- Ten Groswater assemblages from Newfoundland were analyzed to determine whether a stylistically "mixed" assemblage like Salmon Net, or stylistically uniform assemblages like Phillip's Garden East or Phillip's Garden West (Renouf 2005), is characteristic of Newfoundland Groswater assemblages. The conclusion is that material culture stylistic variability is a defining feature of Newfoundland Groswater assemblages. Consequently, material culture stylistic variability must factor into our understanding of Groswater society. Three possible explanations for material culture stylistic variability are discussed.

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