Groswater culture

The Groswater culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that existed in Newfoundland and Labrador from 800 BC to 200 BC. The culture was of Arctic origin, and migrated south after the decline of the Maritime Archaic people following the 900 BC Iron Age Cold Epoch. It is believed to have been replaced by or developed into the Dorset culture around 2000 BP.[1] It is named after Groswater Bay, a bay in central Labrador.

This article is about the Paleo-Inuit Culture. For the bay, see Groswater Bay.
Groswater culture
A map of sites found from the Groswater Proto-Inuit culture across Newfoundland and Labrador.
Geographical rangeNewfoundland and Labrador
Dates800 BC – 200 BC
Type siteGroswater Bay
Major sitesPhillip's Garden East/West
Preceded byMaritime Archaic
Followed byDorset culture

Archaeological Evidence

Remains of animals found in Groswater sites imply a reliance on sea mammals, especially the Harp seal. Sea birds, small game, and Caribou also being hunted.[2][3] Sites were situated on headlands and their tools were focused on hunting sea mammals. They demonstrate fine craftsmanship with stone tools, creating lithic and bone tools that were small and finely chipped.[4] They used tools made from finely cut Chert, a rock used by the Paleo-Eskimo peoples of the North Atlantic. It is unclear why the Groswater Culture declined, although historians have hypothesized changes in climate and availability of marine animals as well as gradual replacement by the Dorset culture.[2]

Tool Construction

They demonstrate fine craftsmanship with stone tools, creating lithic and bone tools that were small and finely chipped. They used tools made from finely cut chert, a rock used by the Paleo-Eskimo peoples of the North Atlantic. Many of these tools are sourced from rock beds in Cow Head, Newfoundland.

The characteristic, or typical, Groswater tool assemblage is defined by: box-based, side-notched, plano-convex harpoon endblades; circular and ovate sideblades; rectangular and triangular endscrapers, some of which are eared; chipped and ground burin-like tools; concave sidescrapers; large, side-notched bifaces; microblades; long, narrow, quartzite abraders; and chipped and ground axes and adzes

— Dominique Lavers and M.A.P. Renouf, A Groswater Palaeoeskimo Component at the Dorset Palaeoeskimo Phillip's Garden Site, Port au Choix, Northwestern Newfoundland, page 314

See also

References

Citations
  1. Erwin et al. 2005, p. 48.
  2. Renouf, M.A.P. (1 February 1999). "Prehistory of Newfoundland hunter-gatherers: Extinctions or adaptations?". World Archaeology. 30 (3): 403–420. doi:10.1080/00438243.1999.9980420. JSTOR 124960.
  3. Renouf, M.A.P. (1999). "Prehistory of Newfoundland hunter-gatherers: Extinctions or adaptations?". In Peter Rowley-Conwy (ed.). Arctic Archaeology. pp. 403–420. ISBN 978-0-2030-6021-6.
  4. "Groswater Paleoeskimo". Port au Choix National Historic Site. Parks Canada. 30 March 2017.

Sources
  • Erwin, John C.; Holly, Donald H., Jr.; Hull, Stephen H.; Rast, Timothy L. (2005). "Form and Function of Projectile Points and the Trajectory of Newfoundland Prehistory". Canadian Journal of Archaeology. Canadian Archaeological Association. 29 (1): 46–67. JSTOR 41103516.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Further reading
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