James Woollett

Variability of Sea-Ice Extent in Baffin Bay over the Last Millennium

Comparison of an ice core glaciochemical time-series developed from thePenny Ice Cap (PIC), Baffin Island and monthly sea-ice extent reveals astatisticallysignificant inverse relationship between changes in Baffin Bay spring sea-iceextent andPenny Ice Cap sea-salt concentrations for the period 1901–1990 AD.Empiricalorthogonal function analysis demonstrates the joint behavior between changesin PICsea-salt concentrations, sea-ice extent, and changes in North Atlanticatmosphericcirculation. Our results suggest that sea-salt concentrations in snowpreserved on thePIC reflect local to regional springtime sea-ice coverage. The PIC sea-saltrecord/sea-ice relationship is further supported by decadal and century scalecomparisonwith other paleoclimate records of eastern Arctic climate change over the last700 years. Our sea-salt record suggests that, while the turn of the century wascharacterized bygenerally milder sea-ice conditions in Baffin Bay, the last few decades ofsea-ice extentlie within Little Ice Age variability and correspond to instrumental recordsof lowertemperatures in the Eastern Canadian Arctic over the past three decades.

Puffins, Pigs, Cod and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

Abstract This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period.

Living in the Narrows: subsistence economy and culture change in Labrador Inuit society during the contact period

This paper presents zooarchaeological analyses of several contact period Inuit winter settlement sites in Hamilton Inlet, Labrador. These sites span the history of Inuit settlement in the region (from about AD 1600 to 1900) and provide an ideal opportunity to examine the relationship of changing patterns of Inuit settlement organization to changing subsistence, social relations and environmental fluctuations. Two of the most conspicuous changes of the contact period came in the eighteenth century, when most winter settlements were relocated to sheltered coastal locations and communal winter houses were adopted. The role played by environmental factors in these changes are discussed in light of new palaeoenvironmental data and zooarchaeological focused on Hamilton Inlet. Environmental changes do seem to have influenced hunting practices. However, this analysis does not support the proposition that the adoption of communal houses was associated with a colder climate or with more severe ice conditions. Rather, it demonstrates a notable increase in importance of open water seal hunting in Hamilton Inlet during the eighteenth century, and links the communal house to increased need for organized hunting labour.

Seals and Sea Ice in Medieval Greenland

Abstract Multidisciplinary approaches are used to examine possible changes in North Atlantic sea-ice cover, in the context of seal hunting, during the period of the Norse occupation of Greenland (ca. 985–1500). Information from Iceland is also used in order to amplify and illuminate the situation in Greenland. Data are drawn mainly from zooarchaeological analyses, but written records of climate and sea-ice variations, as well as paleoclimatic data sets are also discussed. Although it should be noted that any use of seal bones from excavated archaeofauna (animal bone collections from archaeological sites) must recognize the filtering effects of past human economic organization, technology, and seal-hunting strategies, it is suggested that differing biological requirements of the six seal species most commonly found in Arctic/North Atlantic regions may provide a potential proxy for past climate, in particular sea-ice conditions. It is concluded that an increase in the taking of harp seals, as opposed to common seals, in the Norse Greenland “Eastern Settlement” in the late-fourteenth century, may reflect an increase in summer drift-ice.

Was it for walrus? Viking Age settlement and medieval walrus ivory trade in Iceland and Greenland

Abstract Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations in the Disko Bay area that brought mainly ivory to the settlement areas and eventually to European markets. New lead isotopic analysis of archaeological walrus ivory and bone from Greenland and Iceland offers a tool for identifying possible source regions of walrus ivory during the early Middle Ages. This opens possibilities for assessing the development and relative importance of hunting grounds from the point of view of exported products.

Oakes Bay 1: A Preliminary Reconstruction of a Labrador Inuit Seal Hunting Economy in the Context of Climate Change

Abstract Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):245–259, 2010 This paper presents results of recent archaeological research at the site of Oakes Bay 1 (HeCg-08), on Dog Island, Labrador, dated from the late 17th to late 18th century. Analyses of faunal remains provide a means of reconstructing the sites subsistence economy. The sites inhabitants practiced a very consistent mode of hunting throughout this time period, depending heavily on adult ringed seals taken on the fast ice in winter and spring. Juvenile ringed seals, taken at the ice edge in the spring were a secondary resource. A lack of evidence for the hunting of harp seals in the fall and of ringed seal pups in late spring suggests that the site had a relatively short season of occupation. The consistent pattern of hunting through time suggests that the impacts of climatic variability on Inuit subsistence in the Nain region were relatively limited, moderated by their capacity for mobility on the sea ice rather than by whole scale changes in hunting practices and species choice. The Oakes Bay 1 site presents an example of a different subsistence economy than that seen at other recently examined sites in Labrador, suggesting that the impacts of the so-called Little Ice Age were not global or uniform.

Paleoecological perspectives on landscape history and anthropogenic impacts at Uivak Point, Labrador, since AD 1400

Archaeological and paleoecological investigations were undertaken at Uivak Point (HjCl-09 located in Okak Bay, Labrador), a site that consists of a winter village comprising the ruins of nine sod houses and a number of tent ring, cache, and other structures. The site was occupied during the late 18th to early 19th centuries, although the immediate area has been used by many cultural groups spanning from Labrador’s early prehistory into the 20th century. Between ca. 3030 and ca. 710 cal. yr BP, cold and dry climate conditions corresponding to the late Neoglacial period generated the abundance of shrub tundra. From ca. 710 to ca. 550 cal. yr BP, conditions became warmer and wetter, triggering the expansion of trees. Since ca. 550 cal. yr BP, there has been an abundance of dry taxa which may reflect the colder conditions of the ‘Little Ice Age’. Subsequent climate warming has allowed the re-expansion of trees and shrubs over the last 200 years. Moreover, our results indicate that the Thule/Inuit harvested many plant species that grew in the vicinity of Uivak Point for food, raw material, and fuel. For example, many anthropogenic remains (burnt fat, burnt moss leaves, and charcoal) were incorporated into the soil. These activities also triggered the establishment of some weeds and apophytes (Montia Fontana and Silene). Furthermore, our chronostratigraphical and paleoecological data suggest that the site was occupied on an irregular basis since approximately AD 1400.

Tree-Ring Evidence of Changes in the Subarctic Forest Cover Linked to Human Disturbance in Northern Labrador (Canada)

ABSTRACT We combined dendroecological analyses with historical and ethnographic information to document connections between forest use patterns since the 18th century and stand composition and structure in the Nain region of Labrador, Canada. The highest recruitment periods for both eastern larch and spruce, pulses in growth releases, and decades with greatest harvesting evidence (cut stumps) all occurred primarily between 1910 and 1970. The strongest disturbance signal occurred after 1940, resulting in the absence of old trees and increased larch recruitment. The 1910–1970 period coincides with significant shifts in human settlement and land use patterns. Most notably, the increased demand for fur in the 1920s and 1930s changed Inuit land use: the Inuit spent more time inland where fur-bearing animals and wood resources were available. Moreover, population growth in Nain, which was accelerated by the relocation of Inuit communities in northern Labrador between 1950 and 1960, increased local harvesting intensity. We argue that long-term land use needs to be accounted for as a driver of forest dynamics in this subarctic forest landscape.

Vegetation history since the mid-Holocene in northeastern Iceland

ABSTRACT Palynological analysis of peat cores collected near two abandoned farms in the Svalbarðstunga Valley of the þistilfjorður region of northeastern Iceland was used to reconstruct the mid-Holocene vegetation history and to distinguish climatic and anthropogenic impacts on terrestrial ecosystems since colonization. The first site, Hjálmarvík, is located along the coast of þistilfjorður, while Kúðá is located 12 km inland. From 6430 to ca. 4500 cal BP, shrub tundra and birch woodland dominated the landscape. Between ca. 4500 and ca. 1170 cal BP, cooler and wetter conditions favored peatland species, while birch significantly declined. From 1170 cal BP to the present, grassland and peatland were prevalent. Birch woodland had virtually disappeared from the inland regions by 5810 cal BP and from the coast by 3450 cal BP. However, isolated trees persisted in certain areas. Following the initial Norse settlement of Svalbarðstunga at about 1000 AD, the development of agriculture and sheep grazing promoted the spread of sedges and facilitated the introduction of new plant species. Ecological changes linked to the Norse landnám were more limited in Svalbarðstunga than elsewhere in Iceland, where abrupt changes such as woodland clearance and erosion have been associated with human settlement.

A 550-Year Record of the Disturbance History of White Spruce Forests Near Two Inuit Settlements in Labrador, Canada

Abstract We assessed historical variations in environmental parameters affecting tree growth during the last 550 years in north-central Labrador, Canada, using dendroecological analysis of white spruce forests near two Inuit settlements. Tree surveys of both modern and archaeological wood samples provided data for dendroecological analysis of growth patterns and natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes and enabled more-refined dendrochronological dating of the occupation of archaeological sites. Previous Quebec-Labrador peninsula dendroecological studies have focused on climatic forcing agents; this studys coupling of annual tree-growth records to local-scale historical and archaeological data facilitates examination of multi-causal disturbance patterns over time. Low-intensity human interactions with forest ecosystems were significant factors influencing local-scale subarctic forest dynamics in coastal Labrador and should be taken into consideration in other studies.