Paleo-Eskimo

ThePaleo-Eskimomeaning"old Eskimos",also known as,pre-Thuleorpre-Inuit,were the peoples who inhabited theArcticregion fromChukotka(e.g.,Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russiaacross North America toGreenlandbefore the arrival of the modernInuit(Eskimo) and related cultures. Thefirst known Paleo-Eskimocultures developed by 3900 to 3600 BCE,but were gradually displaced in most of the region, with the last one, theDorset culture,disappearing around 1500 CE.

Paleo-Eskimo groups included thePre-Dorset;theSaqqaq cultureof Greenland (2500–800 BCE); theIndependence IandIndependence II culturesof northeastern Canada and Greenland (c. 2400–1800 BCE and c. 800–1 BCE); theGroswaterofLabrador,Nunavik,andNewfoundlandand the Dorset culture (500 BCE – 1400 CE), which spread across Arctic North America. The Dorset was the last major "Paleo-Eskimo" culture in the Arctic before the migration east from present-dayAlaskaof theThule,the ancestors of the modern Inuit.

Terminology

TheInuit Circumpolar Council(ICC) has proposed that scientists useInuitandPaleo-Inuitinstead ofEskimoorPaleo-Eskimo.The archaeologistMax Friesenhas argued for the ICC's terminology to be adopted, and to capitalize the "P" in Paleo, to adhere to archaeological conventions in naming major traditions.In 2016, Lisa Hodgetts andArcticeditor Patricia Wells wrote: "In the Canadian context, continued use of any term that incorporates 'Eskimo' is potentially harmful to the relationships between archaeologists and the Inuit andInuvialuitcommunities who are our hosts and increasingly our research partners "; they suggested using more specific terms when possible (e.g.,DorsetandGroswater); they also noted replacement for "Palaeoeskimo" was still an open question and discussed "Paleo-Inuit", "Arctic Small Tool Tradition",and" pre-Inuit ", as well asInuktitutloanwords like "Tuniit"and"Sivullirmiut"as possibilities.One 2020 paper inJournal of Anthropological Archaeology,written by Katelyn Braymer-Hayes and colleagues, notes that there is a "clear need" to replace the term "Paleo-Eskimo", citing the ICC resolution, but note finding a consensus within the Alaskan context is difficult. In particular, Native Alaskans do not use the word Inuit to describe themselves, and as such, terms used in Canada like "Paleo Inuit" and "Ancestral Inuit" would not be optimal; they use the term "Early Arctic Pottery tradition" while noting a lack of consensus in the field.

Archaeological cultures

According to Pavel Flegontov:

Paleo-Eskimo archeological cultures are grouped under theArctic Small Tool tradition(ASTt), and include theDenbigh,Choris,Norton,and Ipiutak cultures in Alaska, and the Saqqaq, Independence, Pre-Dorset, and Dorset cultures in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. The ASTt source has been argued to lie in theSyalakh-Bel’kachi-Ymyakhtakh culturesequence of East Siberia, dated to 6,500 – 2,800calBP.

Use of bow and arrows

The relatively rapid spread of Paleo-Eskimos from Alaska as far as Greenland and Labrador may have been helped by their use of the bow and arrows. They are credited with introducing this technology to populations in Eastern Canada by 2000 BCE.

Art work

First Faceis a paleo-Eskimo carving in the shape of an abstract human face made fromwalrus ivorythat is between 3,900 and 3,600 years old.The artifact was located onDevon Islandand is the oldest known depiction of a human face created in North America.

First ancient human to have genome sequenced

In February 2010, scientists reported they had performed the firstgenome sequencingof an ancient human. Using fragments of hair 4,000 years old, theNational Museum of Denmark,theBeijing Genomics Institute,and additional collaborating scientific institutions sequenced nearly 80% of a Paleo-Eskimo man's genome. The man was found in Greenland and believed to be from the prehistoricSaqqaq culture.

Based on the genome, scientists believe there was a distinct, separatemigration of peoplesfromSiberiato North America some 5,500 years ago. They noted that this was independent of earlier migrations, whose descendants comprised the historic cultures of theindigenous peoples of the Americas,as well as of the later migration by the Inuit. By 4,500 years ago, descendants of this migration had reached Greenland. The remains used for analysis were found in a Saqqaq culture area.

The scientists reported that the man, dubbed "Inuk" (theInuktitutword for "person" ), hadA+ blood typeand genes suggesting he was adapted to cold weather, had brown eyes, brownish skin, and dark hair, and would have likely balded later in life. This marked the first sequencing of an ancient human's genome and the first sequencing of an ancient human'smitochondrialgenome.

Paleo-Eskimo, Athabaskans, and Eskimo-Aleut

A 2017 study identifies Paleo-Eskimo ancestry inAthabaskanand in otherNa-Dene-speakingpopulations.The authors note that the Paleo-Eskimo peoples lived alongside Na-Dene ancestors for millennia. The authors believe that this represents new evidence of a genetic connection between Siberian and Na-Dene populations mediated by Paleo-Eskimos.

According to these scholars, in general, the Paleo-Eskimos had large proportions of Beringian (which includesChukotko-KamchatkanandEskimo-Aleut), Siberian, andSoutheast Asianancestry.

Furthermore, some geneticists and archaeologists, such asDavid Reich,have hypothesized that the Paleo-Eskimos spread the Na-Dene languages into the American continent, which would make the Paleo-Eskimos cultural and linguistic relatives (if not ancestors) of Na-Dene peoples.

In 2019, scholars concluded that the Palaeo-Eskimo people were the ancestors not only of modern Na-Dene-speaking peoples but also of the Eskimo-Aleut speakers.But this contribution did not come directly; rather, there was a 'Neo-Eskimo' intermediary.

According to Flegontov et al., the laterOld Bering Seaarchaeological culture came as a result of back-and-forth migrations across the Bering Strait by the tribes associated with the Arctic Small Tool tradition, or their descendants (Old Whaling, Choris, Norton culture, from 3,100 to 2,500 cal. yr BP).These people were mixing with the Chukotko-Kamchatkan speakers of Siberia. Eventually, the Old Bering Sea archaeological culture became the ancestor of theYupikandInuit,the speakers of Eskimo–Aleut languages.

Genetics

See also:Pre-Dorset § Genetics,Saqqaq culture § Genetics,Dorset culture § Genetics,Birnirk culture § Genetics,Thule people § Genetics,andInuit § Genetics

A genetic study published inSciencein August 2014 examined the remains of a large number of Paleo-Eskimos andThule people.Paleo-Eskimos were determined to have largely belonged to the maternalhaplogroup D,while Thule people largely belonged to the maternal haplogroupsA.The evidence suggested that the ancestors of the Paleo-Eskimos migrated from Siberia to North America in a distinct migration c. 4000 BCE, after which they remained genetically largely isolated. By 1300 CE, the Paleo-Eskimos had been completely replaced by the Thule people (the ancestors of the Inuit), who were descended from people of theBirnirk cultureof Siberia.

See also

• Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Settlement of the Americas

Sources

• Raghavan, Maanasa; DeGiorgio, Michael; Albrechtsen, Anders; et al. (29 August 2014)."The genetic prehistory of the New World Arctic"(PDF).Science.345(6200): 1255832.doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.1255832.ISSN0036-8075.PMID25170159.S2CID353853.WikidataQ29606641.