Papers by Patrick C Jolicoeur
Arctic, 2021
Composite tool hafting research has touched upon almost every era and region of human history. On... more Composite tool hafting research has touched upon almost every era and region of human history. One aspect that has seen little attention is how those traces of hafting strategies might reflect the raw material of the endblade that an organic handle would have held. This aspect is particularly important for clarifying the scope and scale of novel raw material use in contexts that have concurrent use of different lithic, bone, and metal materials. This article analyzes harpoon heads from the Canadian Arctic in Dorset cultural contexts and identifies three different hafting techniques employed across time. For roughly one millennium, Dorset groups used a single harpoon endblade hafting technique. After AD 500, new hafting techniques were developed, corresponding with the emergence of metal use. Some of these methods are not compatible with common chipped stone materials and signal an increase in metal endblade production. However, surviving metal objects are underrepresented in museum collections because of various taphonomic processes. By recognizing the materials of the harpoon endblade and the specific constraints of some hafting techniques, it is possible to identify what these endblade materials may have been and expand the known extent and intensity of early metal use by observing the hafts alone.
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American Antiquity, 2020
In the first millennium AD, peoples across the North American Arctic began to use and exchange m... more In the first millennium AD, peoples across the North American Arctic began to use and exchange metal. A group known as the Late Dorset (AD 500–1300) were the first to widely exchange metal in the Eastern Arctic. However, due to differential taphonomic processes and past excavation methods, metal objects in existing collections are rare although geographically widespread. This has led to metal being seen as a broadly exchanged but uncommon raw material among Late Dorset. This article expands the known scale of Late Dorset metal use by analyzing the blade slot thicknesses of bone and ivory objects from sites across the Eastern Arctic and comparing them to the thicknesses of associated lithic and metal endblades. These results demonstrate that Late Dorset used metal at least as frequently as stone for some activities. Given the few and geographically discrete sources, metal would have been exchanged over thousands of kilometers of fragmented Arctic landscape. The lack of similar evidence in earlier periods indicates intergroup interaction increases significantly with the Late Dorset. It is through these same vectors that knowledge and information would have flowed. Metal, consequently, represents the best material for understanding the maximum extent and intensity of their interaction networks.
Au cours du premier millénaire après J.-C., les peuples de l'Arctique nord-américain commencent à utiliser et à échanger des métaux. Les Dorsétiens récents (500–1300 après J.-C.) ont été les premiers à échanger largement ces matériels en Arctique de l'Est (Canada et Groenland). Cependant, de nombreux processus taphonomiques, additionnés à d'anciennes techniques d'excavation archéologique, rendent la présence d'objets métalliques rare dans les collections muséales. Ceci a mené à la conception que le métal était une ressource peu commune, mais largement échangée par les Dorsétiens récents. Cet article contribue aux connaissances sur l'ampleur de l'utilisation des métaux par les Dorsétiens récents en analysant l’épaisseur des fentes d'emmanchements d'artéfacts osseux de sites dorsétiens de l'Arctique de l'Est et en les comparant avec l’épaisseur des lames lithiques et métalliques associées. Les résultats démontrent que les Dorsétiens récents utilisaient le métal aussi souvent que la pierre pour réaliser certaines activités. Par exemple, la majorité des têtes de harpons de Type G, un type que l'on retrouve uniquement auprès des sites du Dorsétien récent, ont des fentes d'emmanchement plus minces que la majorité des pointes lithiques. Ceci indique qu'ils devaient plutôt supporter des pointes en métal. De plus, aucune tête de harpon provenant de périodes plus anciennes ne semble avoir supporté des pointes métalliques. Étant donné que les sources connues de métal en Arctique de l'Est sont peu nombreuses, les métaux auraient été échangés sur des milliers de kilomètres à l'intérieur d'un paysage arctique fragmenté. L'absence de preuves similaires pour les périodes plus anciennes indique une augmentation rapide des interactions entre les groupes à la période du Dorsétien récent. C'est à travers ces mêmes vecteurs d’échange que les savoirs et connaissances auraient voyagé. Le métal représente ainsi le meilleur matériel pour comprendre l’étendue géographique et l'intensité des réseaux d'interactions chez les Dorsétiens récents.
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Co-authored with William W. Fitzhugh (PI). A summary of the fieldwork carried out by the Arctic S... more Co-authored with William W. Fitzhugh (PI). A summary of the fieldwork carried out by the Arctic Studies Centre along Quebec's Lower North Shore in 2016. Our work continued an excavation of a 17th-18th century Inuit sod house and began a survey programme in the region.
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A preliminary report on the 2015 excavation of an Inuit sod house near Blanc-Sablon, Quebec. Co-a... more A preliminary report on the 2015 excavation of an Inuit sod house near Blanc-Sablon, Quebec. Co-authored with William W. Fitzhugh. Any credit this article may receive should be directed towards Dr. Fitzhugh. It was his project and he did a phenomenal job with turning this article into what it is. The full and final version of the article can be found in volume 14 of the Provincial Archaeology Office Annual Review here: http://www.btcrd.gov.nl.ca/pao/arch_in_nl/
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A summary of the 2015 survey work we conducted in southern Groswater Bay, Labrador. Co-authored w... more A summary of the 2015 survey work we conducted in southern Groswater Bay, Labrador. Co-authored with William W. Fitzhugh (Smithsonian) and Jamie Brake and Michelle Davies (Nunatsiavut Archaeology Office). They all did a wonderful job and deserve any credit that this article may receive. The full and final version of the article can be found in volume 14 of the Provincial Archaeology Office Annual Review here: http://www.btcrd.gov.nl.ca/pao/arch_in_nl/
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Conference Papers by Patrick C Jolicoeur
Before Canada, 2019
Just before the start of the second millennium AD, Tuniit groups, known as the Late Dorset to som... more Just before the start of the second millennium AD, Tuniit groups, known as the Late Dorset to some archaeologists, began to exchange metal across thousands of kilometers of their Arctic homeland. This represents the first evidence of wide-spread metal use in the Eastern Arctic. Furthermore, these intensive interaction networks were constructed across a seasonally fragmented landscape at a time when Tuniit lacked the mobility technologies used by other Arctic peoples, such as sled dogs and large watercraft. Between the 11th and 14th centuries, the Tuniit would encounter early Inuit, who began to migrate east from northern Alaska, and Greenlandic Norse, having established permanent colonies in southern Greenland. Some have suggested that accessing meteoric iron sources from northern Greenland was a motivating factor for the rapid eastward migration of the Inuit. Likewise, despite a supposed lack of metal access by the Greenlandic Norse, metal itself is thought to have been a key material in their potential interactions with both the Tuniit and early Inuit. Therefore, understanding the way metal was used by these groups is fundamental to understanding how each would have interacted with each other. This paper will address this issue by presenting new data that expands the known evidence for the extent and intensity of Tuniit metal use and exchange by assessing proxy indicators of metal use on bone, ivory, and wood tools. Despite the focus on seemingly utilitarian objects, there are significant symbolic aspects associated with the material. Next, the way metal was used and how (and why) it was exchanged will be contextualized in the face of these novel cultural encounters. It will be argued that metal is a keystone material that is both the best dataset for assessing long-distance Tuniit interaction networks and a significant material in mediating their inter- and intra-cultural encounters.
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Worked Bone Research Group, 2019
Around AD 500, Tuniit peoples, also known as the Late Dorset, first began to use and exchange met... more Around AD 500, Tuniit peoples, also known as the Late Dorset, first began to use and exchange metal in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland. However, despite most sites having fantastic organic and lithic preservation, metal objects make up only a small proportion of Tuniit collections. This makes it impossible to accurately assess the extent, intensity, and nature of Tuniit metal use based on the surviving metal objects alone. Using a combination of microscopic and metric analyses, this paper will present proxy indicators of Tuniit metal use that are left on bone, ivory, and wood objects. Despite these data expanding the known extent and intensity of Tuniit metal use, the results will be discussed in regard to potential biases of the methodology. Ultimately, the methods offer valuable insight into how worked organic material can expand our knowledge of inorganic material use and exchange even when that material is poorly represented in the archaeological record.
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Inuit Studies, 2019
Around AD 500 Tuniit, known as the Late Dorset by some archaeologists, first began to use and exc... more Around AD 500 Tuniit, known as the Late Dorset by some archaeologists, first began to use and exchange metal. This represents the earliest wide-spread evidence of metal use in the Eastern Arctic. Despite metal being found at many Tuniit sites, it is generally recovered in low quantities. This represents only a small fraction of what was used in the past. This paper will expand on both the extent and intensity of known Tuniit metal use by assessing the potential proxy indicators of metal use left behind on bone, ivory, and wood tools. This evidence contrasts with the earliest known examples of Arctic metal use found in Alaska as well as the sparse examples of metal use by earlier Tuniit groups in terms of both how it was used and the way it was exchanged. This talk will debate the different ways Tuniit used metal and even how the type of metal, be it iron or copper, may have been important. In particular, there are differences in the amount of metal that can be detected on harpoon heads and knife handles which may indicate that metal was being preferentially used for some activities and not for others. Moreover, there are stark differences in the quantities of copper versus iron that can be detected on these same tools. These results have important implications for how different Tuniit groups interacted with each other in the past, how they moved across their landscape, and how these people engaged with their material world.
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40th Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, 2018
One of the first groups in the Eastern North American Arctic to widely use and exchange metal are... more One of the first groups in the Eastern North American Arctic to widely use and exchange metal are known to archaeologists as Late Dorset (AD 500-1300). Paradoxically, metal remains rare in Late Dorset archaeological collections. By examining the organic objects that may have supported metal blades, this paper will present proxy data for metal use from Late Dorset sites across the Arctic. Moreover, this paper will use these data to explore the ways archaeologically immaterial metal was mobilised to enchain social relations of the Late Dorset through space and, importantly, time. The constrained source regions for Arctic metal (northern Greenland and the Central Arctic) make it an ideal candidate for disentangling Arctic Human-Thing relations and the evolving itinerary of individual metal objects as they travel between regions, generations, and peoples. Ultimately, metal exchange may have been a means for the Late Dorset to create and maintain socio-cultural relations in a vast and sometimes isolating landscape such as the Arctic.
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51st Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, May 4, 2018
The Late Dorset (ca. AD 500-1300) are thought to be one of the first groups living in the Eastern... more The Late Dorset (ca. AD 500-1300) are thought to be one of the first groups living in the Eastern Arctic to widely exchange metal. However, there is little surviving physical evidence to assess the nature and extent of this early metal trade. This paper will present newly collected data on existing Late Dorset harpoon heads from across the Eastern Arctic to more fully assess if blade slot size correlates with the raw material of the endblade it held. By comparing this material between Late Dorset and earlier assemblages, this paper will demonstrate that Late Dorset metal use is much more intensive and extensive than what the existing distribution of metal objects reflects. This more detailed picture of Late Dorset metal exchange is important not only for understanding how Eastern Arctic groups used and valued metal for its physical properties but also how the materiality of the metal objects may have been used as a medium to connect seemingly disparate groups through time and space. While the distribution of Late Dorset art and architecture has been used to demonstrate the interconnectedness of Late Dorset, the presented data offer a new opportunity to debate Human-Thing interaction and its role in creating and maintaining social relations at a time when other groups, such as the Inuit and Norse, were beginning to enter the Eastern Arctic and the Late Dorset themselves began to disappear.
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This paper was presented at the University of Glasgow Department of Archaeology seminar series. T... more This paper was presented at the University of Glasgow Department of Archaeology seminar series. This summarised recent excavations of a Inuit sod house on Quebec's Lower North Shore. It highlighted the similarities and differences of the house with other Inuit sites across the Arctic and revealed a complex architectural biography. I also attempted to place the site into context with other Inuit sites in Labrador and offered a number of potential hypotheses for one of the southernmost Inuit sites in the world.
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This paper was an invited presentation at a Scottish Society for Northern Studies Conference (Nor... more This paper was an invited presentation at a Scottish Society for Northern Studies Conference (Norse and Native in Northwest Europe) that focused on integrating the various ways the Norse interacted with other cultures across the North Atlantic. My contribution focused on the saga literature describing Norse contact with Indigenous peoples of North America (and, in one case, their archaeological remains) and the evidence of contact with Dorset and Inuit peoples of the Arctic. Despite this region being considered "peripheral" to the Norse world, it was the centre for those living in Norse Greenland and the impact of Medieval Europe's westernmost colony and their interactions with Arctic peoples on a proto-global economy may have been greater than what is presently seen.
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This paper presented the some of the major conclusions of my Master's dissertation. In particular... more This paper presented the some of the major conclusions of my Master's dissertation. In particular, it focused on highlighting common aspects of Late Dorset art, architecture, and material culture to demonstrate the integrated nature of their social world. While other researchers have argued that perhaps strict cultural taboos, aspects of openess and non-hierarchical social structure, or even a cultural focus on "linearity" were governing processes for the development of Late Dorset, I argued that there are other aspects that can be unpacked. I compared Late Dorset artistic motifs, communal site architecture, functional material culture, and circumpolar ethnography (both Inuit and non-Inuit) to support my argument. I am currently working on a journal submission relating to this topic.
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This poster was presented at the 2015 Canadian Archaeological Association annual meeting in St. J... more This poster was presented at the 2015 Canadian Archaeological Association annual meeting in St. John's, Newfoundland. This represents the first stage of research of my PhD identifying sources of Late Dorset metal, the distribution of known metal objects, and the potential uses of that metal.
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This paper discussed the different types of evidence that people have used to investigate the pot... more This paper discussed the different types of evidence that people have used to investigate the potential contacts between the Dorset, Norse, and early Inuit in the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland. In so doing, it showed where the various narratives converged and diverged and hypothesised how each strand of evidence may be integrated together (or not). Additionally, it idientified potential strengths and critical challenges of each approach for detecting interaction and/or exchange in the archaeological record. Finally, a number of potential future directions for research regarding Arctic interaction was proposed which included increased excavation, identifying key trade materials, refined chronological models, as well as understanding intra-cultural exchange mechanisms of each group.
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This short paper critically analysed the potential for contact between the Dorset, Norse, and Thu... more This short paper critically analysed the potential for contact between the Dorset, Norse, and Thule primarily through the archaeological assemblage found at the recently re-excavated southern Baffin Island site of Nanook. While the site was originally associated with the Middle Dorset period on the basis of radiocarbon dates, it has recently been proposed that a number of peculiar objects from the site could indicate contact between the Norse and Dorset. Importantly, this paper demonstrates the complexity of both radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy in the Arctic. While the contact between the Dorset and Norse is probable, some of the objects at Nanook and other Dorset sites that have been proposed to demonstrate contact between the Dorset and the Norse greatly resemble those from Thule assemblages that are both contemporaneous and later than the Norse presence on Greenland. Despite being pure speculation, the possibility of some of the objects that are thought to represent contact between the Dorset and Norse might actually be objects brought to those sites by members of the Thule culture who had previously interacted with the Norse should not be discarded. While future excavation and radiocarbon dating assays will help provide the answer, the Arctic cultural landscape seems to only grow in complexity.
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This paper expands on my previous paper about Norse and Thule contact and broadens it to include ... more This paper expands on my previous paper about Norse and Thule contact and broadens it to include the Dorset. An important conclusion is that despite Norse material representing a fraction of Dorset and Thule assemblages, the distribution of Norse objects across time and space suggests that contact between the three may have been much more complex than previously thought. While the type of interaction between the three groups is undoubtedly unique to each other, it is still not possible to determine the intricacies of those culture contact scenarios. One major gap in understanding the cultural dynamics of the Arctic at this time is the lack of evidence (and explanation) for the possible interaction between the Dorset and Thule.
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This paper focuses on applying and evaluating the theory of Middle Ground colonialism (first prop... more This paper focuses on applying and evaluating the theory of Middle Ground colonialism (first proposed by Richard White and later adapted to an archaeological setting by Chris Gosden) to Norse and Thule contact in Greenland and Arctic Canada. Primarily, it was proposes that trade between the two groups came in multiple forms, including symbolic and "functional" trade. Despite the theory itself not being a perfect fit for the scenario, there are a number of striking similarities between Norse-Thule contact and other "Middle Ground" contexts. In the end, the relationship between the Norse and Thule was likely more involved than simply chance meetings.
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Presented at the University of Victoria Anthropology M-Ideafest, March 2013
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Dissertation by Patrick C Jolicoeur
PhD Thesis, 2019
Around AD 500 Palaeo-Inuit groups, known archaeologically as the Late Dorset, resettled parts of ... more Around AD 500 Palaeo-Inuit groups, known archaeologically as the Late Dorset, resettled parts of the Canadian Arctic and Greenland their ancestors had left uninhabited for nearly five hundred years. At this time, they started to use and exchange metal that derived from two native sources on opposite ends of the Eastern Arctic and potentially through exchange with the Greenlandic Norse. Despite metal being found in generally low quantities, the presence of it alone in many Late Dorset sites across the Arctic, some nearly one thousand kilometres away from potential sources, has led some researchers to suggest it is under-represented in current collections. This drastically hinders any attempt at understanding how much metal was being used, where it was being used, and why it was being used. Moreover, given its known wide distribution and constrained source regions, metal is a potentially important, measurable, and, arguably, unique indicator of the maximum extent of Late Dorset interaction networks. Fortunately, most Arctic sites have good organic preservation leaving the Late Dorset archaeological record rich in ivory, bone, and wood objects, such as harpoon heads and knife handles, that may have held metal blades. This thesis quantitatively and qualitatively assesses two key potential proxy indicators of metal use that has in the past been used successfully in Inuit contexts in order to better understand the extent, intensity, and nature of Late Dorset metal use and exchange. First, the analysis demonstrates that the thickness of blade slots of harpoon heads, side-, and end-hafted handles can be a reliable indicator for the raw material of the blade it once held. Once compared with lithic and metal blades to provide a baseline, the data show that blade slot sizes, particularly in the case of harpoon heads, become thinner during the Late Dorset period. In the case of one Late Dorset harpoon head type, metal was used more frequently than stone. Second, deposits left behind on those organic objects through contact with metal endblades were identified with a microscope. Despite the identification of these metal deposits being impacted by the object’s conservation and taphonomic history, no similar deposits were identified on any of the pre-Late Dorset material. This means that metal was being consistently and intensively exchanged over thousands of kilometers of Arctic landscape for a nearly eight-hundred-year period starting around AD 500. With these data in mind, the nature of this metal exchange can be examined with specific regards to the materiality of Late Dorset metal and the individual object itineraries that are created through the exchange process. The significance of metal within these continuous long-distance interaction networks enchained Dorset social relations through both time and space at a scale never before seen in the Eastern Arctic. It is along these same vectors of exchange that flowed the knowledge and ideas of what it meant to be Dorset.
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Papers by Patrick C Jolicoeur
Au cours du premier millénaire après J.-C., les peuples de l'Arctique nord-américain commencent à utiliser et à échanger des métaux. Les Dorsétiens récents (500–1300 après J.-C.) ont été les premiers à échanger largement ces matériels en Arctique de l'Est (Canada et Groenland). Cependant, de nombreux processus taphonomiques, additionnés à d'anciennes techniques d'excavation archéologique, rendent la présence d'objets métalliques rare dans les collections muséales. Ceci a mené à la conception que le métal était une ressource peu commune, mais largement échangée par les Dorsétiens récents. Cet article contribue aux connaissances sur l'ampleur de l'utilisation des métaux par les Dorsétiens récents en analysant l’épaisseur des fentes d'emmanchements d'artéfacts osseux de sites dorsétiens de l'Arctique de l'Est et en les comparant avec l’épaisseur des lames lithiques et métalliques associées. Les résultats démontrent que les Dorsétiens récents utilisaient le métal aussi souvent que la pierre pour réaliser certaines activités. Par exemple, la majorité des têtes de harpons de Type G, un type que l'on retrouve uniquement auprès des sites du Dorsétien récent, ont des fentes d'emmanchement plus minces que la majorité des pointes lithiques. Ceci indique qu'ils devaient plutôt supporter des pointes en métal. De plus, aucune tête de harpon provenant de périodes plus anciennes ne semble avoir supporté des pointes métalliques. Étant donné que les sources connues de métal en Arctique de l'Est sont peu nombreuses, les métaux auraient été échangés sur des milliers de kilomètres à l'intérieur d'un paysage arctique fragmenté. L'absence de preuves similaires pour les périodes plus anciennes indique une augmentation rapide des interactions entre les groupes à la période du Dorsétien récent. C'est à travers ces mêmes vecteurs d’échange que les savoirs et connaissances auraient voyagé. Le métal représente ainsi le meilleur matériel pour comprendre l’étendue géographique et l'intensité des réseaux d'interactions chez les Dorsétiens récents.
Conference Papers by Patrick C Jolicoeur
Dissertation by Patrick C Jolicoeur
Au cours du premier millénaire après J.-C., les peuples de l'Arctique nord-américain commencent à utiliser et à échanger des métaux. Les Dorsétiens récents (500–1300 après J.-C.) ont été les premiers à échanger largement ces matériels en Arctique de l'Est (Canada et Groenland). Cependant, de nombreux processus taphonomiques, additionnés à d'anciennes techniques d'excavation archéologique, rendent la présence d'objets métalliques rare dans les collections muséales. Ceci a mené à la conception que le métal était une ressource peu commune, mais largement échangée par les Dorsétiens récents. Cet article contribue aux connaissances sur l'ampleur de l'utilisation des métaux par les Dorsétiens récents en analysant l’épaisseur des fentes d'emmanchements d'artéfacts osseux de sites dorsétiens de l'Arctique de l'Est et en les comparant avec l’épaisseur des lames lithiques et métalliques associées. Les résultats démontrent que les Dorsétiens récents utilisaient le métal aussi souvent que la pierre pour réaliser certaines activités. Par exemple, la majorité des têtes de harpons de Type G, un type que l'on retrouve uniquement auprès des sites du Dorsétien récent, ont des fentes d'emmanchement plus minces que la majorité des pointes lithiques. Ceci indique qu'ils devaient plutôt supporter des pointes en métal. De plus, aucune tête de harpon provenant de périodes plus anciennes ne semble avoir supporté des pointes métalliques. Étant donné que les sources connues de métal en Arctique de l'Est sont peu nombreuses, les métaux auraient été échangés sur des milliers de kilomètres à l'intérieur d'un paysage arctique fragmenté. L'absence de preuves similaires pour les périodes plus anciennes indique une augmentation rapide des interactions entre les groupes à la période du Dorsétien récent. C'est à travers ces mêmes vecteurs d’échange que les savoirs et connaissances auraient voyagé. Le métal représente ainsi le meilleur matériel pour comprendre l’étendue géographique et l'intensité des réseaux d'interactions chez les Dorsétiens récents.