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A Sheltered Life: Inner Cove Groswater Palaeoeskimo Occupation at Port au Choix

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The Cultural Landscapes of Port au Choix

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Abstract

This chapter summarizes data from the Groswater Palaeoeskimo occupation at the Party site (EeBi-30) situated in the sheltered inner reaches of Back Arm, Port au Choix (Fig. 6.1). This location contrasts with better known Groswater Palaeoeskimo sites on the Point Riche headland, in particular Phillip’s Garden East (EeBi-1) and Phillip’s Garden West (EeBi-11) (Harp 1951, 1964; Kennett 1990; LeBlanc 1996; Renouf 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2005; Wells 2002; Wintemberg 1939, 1940; see also Chaps. 4 and 5) (Fig. 6.1). This chapter presents the artefact assemblage, intra-site spatial patterning, and radiocarbon data from two areas of the Party site and concludes that these represent distinct occupations with different economic foci. These data, along with site location and available resources, suggest that the Party site was occupied during the warmer months, in contrast with the late winter/early spring focus of the Phillip’s Garden East and Phillip’s Garden West sites. The Party site expands our knowledge about the range of Groswater site locations and activities at Port au Choix.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     All dates used in this paper are calibrated to calendar years before present (cal BP) using the Calib 6.0html program (Stuiver and Reimer 1993).

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Acknowledgements

My research was made possible by generous financial support from the Institute for Social and Economic Research, the Newfoundland Archaeological Heritage Outreach Program, the Provincial Archaeology Office and the Port au Choix Archaeology Project. The Port au Choix Party site crew (Ainslie Cogswell, Dominique Lavers, Mindy Pitre and Sarah Player) deserve applause. Thanks to Charlie Conway, Memorial University Geography Department, for drafting the figures. Additionally, two anonymous reviewers helped greatly with reading clarity; the readers, I am sure, thank you. And of course, thanks to Dr. M.A.P. Renouf, for helping in so many ways.

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    Kendra D. Stiwich

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Correspondence to Kendra D. Stiwich .

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  1. Archaeology Unit, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, A1C 5S7, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    M. A. P. Renouf

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Stiwich, K.D. (2011). A Sheltered Life: Inner Cove Groswater Palaeoeskimo Occupation at Port au Choix. In: Renouf, M. (eds) The Cultural Landscapes of Port au Choix. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8324-4_6

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