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<p>Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula, near present-day Port au Choix, contains pre-contact archeological sites from several distinct cultures dating back to 6290&#xa0;cal&#xa0;yr BP. Evidence from multiple excavations indicates that the Dorset, an Arctic-adapted Pre-Inuit culture known for their subsistence focus on seals, represented the largest and most intensive occupation from ca. 1990 to 1180&#xa0;cal&#xa0;yr BP. However, paleolimnological data from a nearby pond document the strongest signals of human activity as prior to, or in the early stages of, Dorset occupation. Here, we attempt to refine the timing of the peak anthropogenic activity in a core collected from the same pond as in earlier studies, with comparisons to three nearby reference ponds. Importantly, we use proxies not previously analyzed and minimize the possibility of dating redeposited materials from a visually identifiable “disturbance layer” (denoted by dark, brown marl sediments) that may have led to inaccurate dating profiles in earlier studies. Our multi-proxy approach tracks the presence of earlier cultures via their excrement (sterols and stanols) and indirectly via their sealing activities (sediment δ<sup>15</sup>N) and associated limnological impacts (subfossil diatom assemblages and sedimentary chlorophyll <i>a</i>). We show a clear signal of human activity from ca. 3680 to 1980&#xa0;cal&#xa0;yr BP, which only narrowly captures the beginning of the Dorset occupation, and extends into earlier cultures (Groswater and Maritime Archaic) whose occupation of the region was considered less intensive than the Dorset. These data raise questions about how different cultural groups may have processed seals on land and whether past occupations were more intensive than current archeological data indicate, which offers potential predictive utility for future archeological surveys.</p>

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Tracking the impacts of several cultural occupations at the Phillip’s Garden archeological site, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年5月7日

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  • Kristen A. Coleman,
  • Neal Michelutti,
  • Lauren Gallant,
  • Jules M. Blais,
  • Trevor Bell,
  • John P. Smol

摘要

Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula, near present-day Port au Choix, contains pre-contact archeological sites from several distinct cultures dating back to 6290 cal yr BP. Evidence from multiple excavations indicates that the Dorset, an Arctic-adapted Pre-Inuit culture known for their subsistence focus on seals, represented the largest and most intensive occupation from ca. 1990 to 1180 cal yr BP. However, paleolimnological data from a nearby pond document the strongest signals of human activity as prior to, or in the early stages of, Dorset occupation. Here, we attempt to refine the timing of the peak anthropogenic activity in a core collected from the same pond as in earlier studies, with comparisons to three nearby reference ponds. Importantly, we use proxies not previously analyzed and minimize the possibility of dating redeposited materials from a visually identifiable “disturbance layer” (denoted by dark, brown marl sediments) that may have led to inaccurate dating profiles in earlier studies. Our multi-proxy approach tracks the presence of earlier cultures via their excrement (sterols and stanols) and indirectly via their sealing activities (sediment δ15N) and associated limnological impacts (subfossil diatom assemblages and sedimentary chlorophyll a). We show a clear signal of human activity from ca. 3680 to 1980 cal yr BP, which only narrowly captures the beginning of the Dorset occupation, and extends into earlier cultures (Groswater and Maritime Archaic) whose occupation of the region was considered less intensive than the Dorset. These data raise questions about how different cultural groups may have processed seals on land and whether past occupations were more intensive than current archeological data indicate, which offers potential predictive utility for future archeological surveys.