Published in cooperation with the National Museum of Denmark The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt) A regional analysis of the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures of Central West Greenland Jens Fog Jensen Meddelelser om Grønland · Man & Society 32 As of 2008 Museum Tusculanum Press has taken over the series Monographs on Greenland | Meddelelser om Grønland. Manuscripts should be sent to: Museum Tusculanum Press University of Copenhagen 126 Njalsgade, DK-2300 Copenhagen S DENMARK [email protected] | www.mtp.dk Tel. +45 353 29109 | Fax +45 353 29113 VAT no.: 8876 8418 Guidelines for authors can be found at www.mtp.dk/MoG Orders Books can be purchased online at www.mtp.dk, via [email protected], through any of MTP’s distributors in the US, UK, and France or via online retailers and major booksellers. 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Further information about the series, including addresses of the scientific editors of the subseries can be found at www.mtp.dk/MoG Jens Fog Jensen: The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt). A regional analysis of the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures of Central West Greenland ISBN 978-87-635-1272-5 eISBN 978-87-635-3068-2 © Museum Tusculanum Press, 2009 Series: Monographs on Greenland | Meddelelser om Grønland, vol. 336 ISSN 0025-6676 Series: Man & Society, vol. 32 ISSN 0106-1062 Unchanged version in PDF format of the printed version: Jens Fog Jensen: The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt). A regional analysis of the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures of Central West Greenland. – Meddelelser om Grønland, Man and Society 32. Copenhagen, The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland, 2006. © 2006 by SILA and The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland Publishing editor Kirsten Caning Printed by Special-Trykkeriet Viborg a-s No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners. Front cover: Reconstruction of a single family Saqqaq tent at the Kannala site. Drawing by Martin Antoni Nielsen. Back cover: Bifaces of chalcedony from Annertusuaqqap Nuaa. Photo Geert Brovad. Accepted June 2006 ISSN 0106-1062 ISBN 87-90369-82-3 Museum Tusculanum Press :: [email protected] :: www.mtp.dk Chapter 1 Contents Abstract 7 Kannala 73 Acknowledgements 9 Summary of Saqqaq settlements in Southern Qeqertarsuup Tunua 80 Chapter 1 Introduction 11 Chapter 7 Saqqaq Raw Material Procurement Systems 85 Chapter 2 Qaarsut – large-scale production of preforms 86 Landscape, Seascape and Icescape 14 Raw material extraction at Angissat 87 Thin-section analysis 89 Chapter 3 Summary and discussion of Saqqaq raw material Environmental Change 22 procurement 95 Climate change 22 Relative sea-level change 23 Chapter 8 Landslides and solifluction 30 Dorset Settlements in Southern Qeqertarsuup Summary and discussion of environmental Tunua 97 change 31 Innartalik I 97 Kangerlussorissunnguup Kangia 107 Chapter 4 Annertusuaqqap Nuua 117 History of Research 32 Umiartorfik 148 Time of discovery and early archaeology of Summary of Dorset sites in Qeqertarsuup Tunua 162 Qeqertarsuup Tunua 32 Lithics in the landscape 169 Archaeology after the establishment of Home Rule 35 Chapter 9 Changes in archaeological methods 36 Radiocarbon Dates 172 Summary and discussion of the history of research 37 Chapter 10 Discussion and Conclusions 177 Chapter 5 Similarity and variability in Saqqaq and Palaeo-Eskimo Settlements in Qeqertarsuup Dorset dwelling styles 177 Tunua 39 The Saqqaq-Dorset transition in Qeqertarsuup Nuussuaq Peninsula 39 Tunua 180 Eastern Qeqertarsuup Tunua 45 Variability in the use and seasonality of The Southwestern Archipelago 48 different dwelling types 181 Qeqertarsuaq (Disko Ø) 52 Qeqertarsuup Tunua and Peary Land 181 Models of human dispersal 183 Chapter 6 Saqqaq Settlements in Southern Qeqertarsuup Appendix 1 Tunua 58 Catalogue of Palaeo-Eskimo sites in Qeqertarsuup Orpissooq East 59 Tunua 187 Ikerasak 66 Nuussuaq 187 Jens Fog Jensen: "The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt)" eISBN 978-87-635-3068-2 :: © Museum Tusculanum Press, 2009 5 Series: Monographs on Greenland | Meddelelser om Grønland, vol. 336 (ISSN 0025-6676) Series: Man & Society, vol. 32 (ISSN 0106-1062) http://www.mtp.hum.ku.dk/details.asp?eln=202793 Museum Tusculanum Press :: [email protected] :: www.mtp.dk CONTENTS Eastern Qeqertarsuup Tunua 204 Appendix 2 The Southwestern Archipelago 221 Thin-sections of killiaq samples 259 Qeqertarsuaq 252 References 265 Jens Fog Jensen: "The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt)" 6 eISBN 978-87-635-3068-2 :: © Museum Tusculanum Press, 2009 Series: Monographs on Greenland | Meddelelser om Grønland, vol. 336 (ISSN 0025-6676) Series: Man & Society, vol. 32 (ISSN 0106-1062) http://www.mtp.hum.ku.dk/details.asp?eln=202793 Museum Tusculanum Press :: [email protected] :: www.mtp.dk Abstract Jens Fog Jensen: The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt). A regional analy- sis of the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures of Central West Greenland. – Meddelelser om Grønland, Man and Society 32. Copenhagen, The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland, 2006. 272 pp. The present text is a revised version of the Ph.D. thesis ‘Tent Rings and Stone Tools’ defended by the author on March 11th 2005 at the University of Copenhagen. Saqqaq and Dorset sites excavated by the author in the southern part of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt) form the empirical basis for a comparison of Saqqaq and Dorset settlement in the area. Earlier reconstructions of the cultural history were based mainly on observations of stratified middens. In contrast to this, the present work focuses on the ‘horizontal dimension’ within the archaeological record. As a conse- quence, settlement patterns, dwelling types and the spatial organisation of dwellings are the principal objectives. Saqqaq and Dorset settlement patterns are broadly similar and it is concluded that there is little evidence to suggest any major difference in economy or adaptation between the two periods. Both Saqqaq and Dorset settlement patterns are characterised by a number of large settlements located strategically near the most productive biotopes. Minor settlements, most often occupied during the warm season, are found within the catchment area, indicating annual recurring dispersal of the population during the warmer months. Only Sydostbugten, in Southeastern Qeqertarsuup Tunua, appears to exhibit significant differences between Saqqaq and Dorset settlement patterns. Large Dorset settlements have not been found in Sydostbugten and it is suggested that this area, probably due to climatic oscillations, was less attractive for settlement during the Dorset period than it was in the Saqqaq. Consequently, the Dorset people seem only to have utilised Sydostbugten for specialised seasonal camps. Saqqaq and Dorset accommodation comprises distinct summer and winter dwellings. During both periods, the summer dwellings are characterised by what are believed to be single family tents. These occur in two principal varieties: Tent rings, with a central hearth, and mid-passage tent rings, where the interior is divided in two by parallel lines of stones. This difference in architecture is suggested to result from varia- tion in the social composition of the inhabitants. Winter dwellings of both the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures are characterised by more solidly built structures. In the Saqqaq cul- ture there are ‘platform dwellings’ and mid-passage structures filled with fire-cracked rocks. During the Dorset, the winter dwellings are characterised by ‘double-platform dwellings’, in which a central floor area divides the interior into two platforms that are often paved. The presence of more than one hearth or lamp stand, as well as ‘mirrored’ distributions of the most frequent tool categories to the left and right of the central floor area, is interpreted as a result of these dwellings being occupied by two families. Chapter 7 focuses on Saqqaq raw material distribution from killiaq sources in the vicinity of Qaarsut and Angissat. The raw material distribution from these two sources is Jens Fog Jensen: "The Stone Age of Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Disko Bugt)" eISBN 978-87-635-3068-2 :: © Museum Tusculanum Press, 2009 7 Series: Monographs on Greenland | Meddelelser om Grønland, vol. 336 (ISSN 0025-6676) Series: Man & Society, vol. 32 (ISSN 0106-1062) http://www.mtp.hum.ku.dk/details.asp?eln=202793 Museum Tusculanum Press :: [email protected] :: www.mtp.dk ABSTRACT characterised as a regional and local system. The procurement and subsequent distribu- tion of raw materials from Angissat in Southern Qeqertarsuup Tunua appears thus to have been imbedded in the local resource exploitation. Much of the raw material extrac- tion appears to have been carried out by hunting parties visiting the outcrop during summer hunting trips. In contrast to this, Qaarsut at Nuussuaq shows evidence of a more comprehensive production of preforms, which were distributed through-out Western Greenland. Economically as well as socially, there appear to be numerous similarities between the Saqqaq and Dorset cultures. However, when evaluating the radiocarbon dates, there appears to be discontinuity between the two periods as is also suggested by earlier exca- vations of stratified deposits. In Sisimiut District, to the south of Qeqertarsuup Tunua, the latest Saqqaq dates overlap with the oldest Dorset dates.