Biogeographic barriers and coastal erosion: understanding the lack of interaction between the Eastern and Western Regions of the North American Arctic

2019/05/27 by T. Max Friesen, Michael O’Rourke, Michael J. E. O’Rourke
Health Professions · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Indigenous Studies and Ecology #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies

paper · doi:10.1080/00438243.2019.1705179

Abstract

For most of the past 5,000 years, the North American Arctic has seen distinct cultural developments in its eastern and western regions, with the boundary between them located in the Amundsen Gulf region in northwestern Canada. This boundary was traversed by two major migration episodes that define the ‘big picture’ of North American Arctic archaeology, but for much of the remainder of prehistory, there are only rare indications of communication or movement across it. In this paper, we assess the reasons for this boundary, the evidence for interaction across it, and the implications for cultural developments on both sides. In order to approach these issues, we also attempt to understand the significant gaps in the archaeological record caused by the region’s severe coastal erosion, currently accelerating due to warming climates.

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