Changing Subsistence Practices at the Dorset Paleoeskimo Site of Phillip's Garden, Newfoundland

• Published in: Arctic anthropology 2003-01, Vol.40 (1), p.106-120
• Main Authors: Hodgetts, Lisa M., Renouf, M. A. P., Murray, Maribeth S., McCuaig-Balkwill, Darlene, Howse, Lesley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: America and Arctic regions; Animals; Anthropology, Cultural - education; Anthropology, Cultural - history; Arctic Regions - ethnology; Birds; Bones; Climate Change - history; Diet - economics; Diet - ethnology; Diet - history; Fisheries - history; Food Supply - history; Gardening - education; Gardening - history; Harps; History of medicine; History, 15th Century; History, 16th Century; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Horticultural practices; Humans; Middens; Newfoundland and Labrador - ethnology; North America; Paleoanthropology; Paleoclimatology; Plants; Population Groups - education; Population Groups - ethnology; Population Groups - history; Preceramic cultures; Prehistory and protohistory; Seal hunting; Seals; Seals, Earless; Taxa
• ISSN: 0066-6939; 1933-8139
• DOI: 10.1353/arc.2011.0012

A comparison of identified faunal assemblages from the Dorset site of Phillip's Garden indicates that harp seal hunting was the main focus of activity throughout the site's occupation. Despite the highly specialized nature of site use, it appears that reliance on harp seal decreased over time while fish and birds became increasingly important. These changes may reflect longer seasonal occupations at the site in later centuries, and/or a decrease in the local availability of harp seal. The observed shift coincides with the onset of a local climatic warming trend, which might have affected harp seal movements in the area. Dorset subsistence and settlement patterns in Newfoundland are still poorly understood due to a lack of preserved faunal assemblages in the region. The temporal trend illustrated here indicates that we cannot assume that these patterns were static throughout the Dorset occupation of the island.