The party site (EeBi-30) and beyond: an interpretation of Groswater mobility and landscape from Port Au Choix, NL

Wheatley, Kendra Dawn (2004) The party site (EeBi-30) and beyond: an interpretation of Groswater mobility and landscape from Port Au Choix, NL. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

For over 1000 years Groswater Paleoeskimo groups occupied the Port au Choix region of Newfoundland. Archaeological research in this region has focused on harp seal hunting sites along the northern shores of the Point Riche peninsula. Other sites in more sheltered, inner coast zones have received little analysis. The Party site (EeBi-30), a small Groswater site located on the southwestern shore of Back Arm, was excavated in order to better understand the inner coast zone as well as the entire region of Port au Choix. The site was occupied at least twice in two separate locations. Area 1 is interpreted as a summer residential base camp, reliant on a multitude of faunal and floral resources that are found in this location. Area 2 is interpreted as a late spring/early summer residential base camp with a faunal focus on harbor seal hunting. -- The site scale interpretation is expanded to the zone scale (inner and outer) as well as the region scale (Port au Choix) with a focus on interpreting landscape and mobility. Barrett (1991:8) describes landscape as “a form constructed from natural and artificial features, [which] become a culturally meaningful resource through its routine occupancy.” Mobility provides mechanisms for cultural construction and physical occupation demonstrating the intricate role mobility has in a group's landscape. In order to investigate the relationship between Groswater mobility and landscape, six mobility dimensions (Chatters 1987) are examined at three different spatial scales (site, zone, and region). Analyses of these dimensions and scales suggest how mobility shaped the Groswater landscape, and what this landscape may have been like for Groswater people.

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