Archaeology in the Arctic, 1935-60

1961 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
North American ◽  
Far East ◽  
Central Area ◽  
The Other ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic

AbstractArchaeological activities in the North American Arctic are reviewed in terms of the sequences and cultures which have been identified in three major culture areas: the coastal zone from St. Lawrence Island to eastern Greenland, the central area around Hudson Bay with extensions to northern Greenland and Newfoundland, and southwestern Alaska including the Aleutian Islands. Three broad culture horizons are suggested for organizing the data for the first two of these areas. The earliest horizon which cannot be surely identified as either Pre-Eskimo or Proto-Eskimo is tentatively called the Denbigh Flint horizon. It is characterized by fine chipping, micro-cores, micro-blades, burins, and the absence of pottery. These traits occur in the Denbigh Flint and New Mountain complexes and in other assemblages perhaps as far east as the Sarqaq of Greenland. The second or Paleo-Eskimo horizon which also emphasized fine chipping is found in two forms, one with pottery, such as the Choris, Norton, Near Ipiutak, and related cultures in northwestern Canada, and the other without pottery represented by Ipiutak and Dorset. The latest or Neo-Eskimo horizon is the northern maritime tradition of the Okvik to Inugsuk range of cultures. Other approaches to the interpretation of northern archaeology are summarized.

Northward ho! Obama, Diefenbaker and the North American Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-255
Author(s):  
Klaus J. Dodds
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
The North ◽  
American President ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
To Come ◽  
Franklin Delano Roosevelt ◽  
Lying Down

President Barrack Obama became, in September 2015, the first US president to travel north of the Arctic Circle. Having started his Alaskan itinerary in Anchorage, attending and speaking at a conference involving Secretary of State John Kerry and invited guests, the president travelled north to the small town of Kotzebue, a community of some 3000 people with the majority of inhabitants identifying as native American. Delivered to an audience in the local high school numbering around 1000, the 41st US president placed his visit within a longer presidential tradition of northern visitation: I did have my team look into what other Presidents have done when they visited Alaska. I’m not the first President to come to Alaska.Warren Harding spent more than two weeks here – which I would love to do. But I can't leave Congress alone that long. (Laughter.) Something might happen. When FDR visited – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – his opponents started a rumor that he left his dog, Fala, on the Aleutian Islands – and spent 20 million taxpayer dollars to send a destroyer to pick him up. Now, I’m astonished that anybody would make something up about a President. (Laughter.) But FDR did not take it lying down. He said, “I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks – but Fala does resent attacks. He's not been the same dog since.” (Laughter.) President Carter did some fishing when he visited. And I wouldn't mind coming back to Alaska to do some fly-fishing someday. You cannot see Alaska in three days. It's too big. It's too vast. It's too diverse. (Applause.) So I’m going to have to come back. I may not be President anymore, but hopefully I’d still get a pretty good reception. (Applause.) And just in case, I’ll bring Michelle, who I know will get a good reception. (Applause.) . . .. But there's one thing no American President has done before – and that's travel above the Arctic Circle. (Applause.) So I couldn't be prouder to be the first, and to spend some time with all of you (Obama 2015a).

The Arctic Institute of North America

Polar Record ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 8 (52) ◽  
pp. 22-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Baird
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Reference Information ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Mcgill University

The Arctic Institute of North America was established in 1945 in two small rooms in McGill University, with a staff consisting of Dr Lincoln Washburn and a secretary, who made up for the lack of equipment and facilities by abundant energy and enthusiasm. Since then the Institute's growth has been considerable, always in the direction of its three main objectives—to form a centre for reference information and study on the North American Arctic, to encourage arctic scientific research in any field, and to disseminate arctic information by means of a journal, other publications, and lectures.

scholarly journals The Oxford Handbook of the Prehistoric Arctic

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic

The North American Arctic was one of the last regions on Earth to be settled by humans, due to its extreme climate, limited range of resources, and remoteness from populated areas. Despite these factors, it holds a rich and complex history relating to Inuit, Iñupiat, Inuvialuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples and their ancestors. The artifacts, dwellings, and food remains of these ancient peoples are remarkably well preserved due to cold temperatures and permafrost, allowing archaeologists to reconstruct their lifeways with great accuracy. Furthermore, the combination of modern Elders’ traditional knowledge with the region’s high-resolution ethnographic record allows past peoples’ lives to be reconstructed to a level simply not possible elsewhere. Combined, these factors yield an archaeological record of global significance—the Arctic provides ideal case studies relating to issues as diverse as the impacts of climate change on human societies, the complex process of interaction between indigenous peoples and Europeans, and the dynamic relationships between environment, economy, social organization, and ideology in hunter-gatherer societies. In this book, each Arctic cultural tradition is described in detail, with up-to-date coverage of recent interpretations of all aspects of their lifeways. Additional chapters cover broad themes applicable to the full range of arctic cultures, such as trade, stone tool technology, ancient DNA research, and the relationship between archaeology and modern arctic communities. The resulting volume, written by the region’s leading researchers, is by far the most comprehensive coverage of North American arctic archaeology ever assembled.

scholarly journals Timing of Breeding Site Availability Across the North-American Arctic Partly Determines Spring Migration Schedule in a Long-Distance Neotropical Migrant

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Lamarre ◽  
Gilles Gauthier ◽  
Richard B. Lanctot ◽  
Sarah T. Saalfeld ◽  
Oliver P. Love ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Breeding Site ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Timing Of Breeding ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Departure Date ◽  
Breeding Location

Long-distance migrants are under strong selection to arrive on their breeding grounds at a time that maximizes fitness. Many arctic birds start nesting shortly after snow recedes from their breeding sites and timing of snowmelt can vary substantially over the breeding range of widespread species. We tested the hypothesis that migration schedules of individuals co-occurring at the same non-breeding areas are adapted to average local environmental conditions encountered at their specific and distant Arctic breeding locations. We predicted that timing of breeding site availability (measured here as the average snow-free date) should explain individual variation in departure time from shared non-breeding areas. We tested our prediction by tracking American Golden-Plovers (Pluvialis dominica) nesting across the North-American Arctic. These plovers use a non-breeding (wintering) area in South America and share a spring stopover area in the nearctic temperate grasslands, located >1,800 km away from their nesting locations. As plovers co-occur at the same non-breeding areas but use breeding sites segregated by latitude and longitude, we could disentangle the potential confounding effects of migration distance and timing of breeding site availability on individual migration schedule. As predicted, departure date of individuals stopping-over in sympatry was positively related to the average snow-free date at their respective breeding location, which was also related to individual onset of incubation. Departure date from the shared stopover area was not explained by the distance between the stopover and the breeding location, nor by the stopover duration of individuals. This strongly suggests that plover migration schedule is adapted to and driven by the timing of breeding site availability per se. The proximate mechanism underlying the variable migration schedule of individuals is unknown and may result from genetic differences or individual learning. Temperatures are currently changing at different speeds across the Arctic and this likely generates substantial heterogeneity in the strength of selection pressure on migratory schedule of arctic birds migrating sympatrically.

scholarly journals A Benchmark for Trace Greenhouse Gases in the Arctic Ocean

Eos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terri Cook
Keyword(s):  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
North American ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
North American Arctic

Samples of seawater from the North American Arctic show that the region is neither a major source nor sink of methane and nitrous oxide to the overlying atmosphere.

Evolutionary relationships in Oxytropis species, as estimated from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences point to multiple expansions into the Arctic

Botany ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 770-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Archambault ◽  
Martina V. Strömvik
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Internal Transcribed Spacer ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Its Region ◽  
Its Sequences ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Evolutionary Relationships ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic

Species of the genus Oxytropis are distributed in the northern hemisphere, especially in alpine and arctic areas. Although comprehensive taxonomic treatments exist for local floras, an understanding of the evolutionary relationships is lacking for the genus as a whole. To determine if different ancestral Oxytropis species colonized the North American Arctic separately, as suggested by taxonomy, we sequenced the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from 16 Oxytropis specimens, including four species that were used in a previous transcriptome study. In addition, 81 other Oxytropis ITS sequences were retrieved from public sequence databases and included in the analysis. The whole data set was analyzed using phylogenetic trees and statistical parsimony networks. Results show that all Oxytropis ITS sequences are very similar. Furthermore, at least six lineages evolved from different temperate ancestors to colonize the North American Arctic. This pattern is believed to be typical of the arctic flora. Additionally, the sequence relationship analyses confirm that the subgenus Phacoxytropis may be ancestral in Oxytropis.

Rights Over the Arctic

1930 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Lakhtine
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Far East ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
The Far East ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
The One

The transarctic flights of 1926 and 1928 demonstrate the possibility of establishing communication by air across the Arctic regions between Europe, on the one side, and North America and the Far East on the other. Quite aside from the saving of time owing to shorter distance, the establishment of such communication presents considerably less diiSculty than air communication over the Atlantic: a conclusion derived from the transatlantic flights of the last three years. The experience of the airship Italia in May, 1928, does not at all nullify this conclusion. It serves merely to show that the organization of transarctic communication requires special prearrangements, such aa wireless stations, meteorological stations, landing-places, air-bases, the construction of which on the shores, islands, and even on the ice of the Arctic Ocean, appears to be quite feasible. The necessity for such stations has aroused in the governments of the North countries an increased interest in the Arctic regions which heretofore has been restricted to scientific circles.

scholarly journals Sources of carbonaceous aerosols and deposited black carbon in the Arctic in winter-spring: implications for radiative forcing

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 12453-12473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. Wang ◽  
D. J. Jacob ◽  
J. A. Fisher ◽  
J. Mao ◽  
E. M. Leibensperger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
North American ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Anthropogenic Source ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic

Abstract. We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem CTM) to interpret observations of black carbon (BC) and organic aerosol (OA) from the NASA ARCTAS aircraft campaign over the North American Arctic in April 2008, as well as longer-term records in surface air and in snow (2007–2009). BC emission inventories for North America, Europe, and Asia in the model are tested by comparison with surface air observations over these source regions. Russian open fires were the dominant source of OA in the Arctic troposphere during ARCTAS but we find that BC was of prevailingly anthropogenic (fossil fuel and biofuel) origin, particularly in surface air. This source attribution is confirmed by correlation of BC and OA with acetonitrile and sulfate in the model and in the observations. Asian emissions are the main anthropogenic source of BC in the free troposphere but European, Russian and North American sources are also important in surface air. Russian anthropogenic emissions appear to dominate the source of BC in Arctic surface air in winter. Model simulations for 2007–2009 (to account for interannual variability of fires) show much higher BC snow content in the Eurasian than the North American Arctic, consistent with the limited observations. We find that anthropogenic sources contribute 90% of BC deposited to Arctic snow in January-March and 60% in April–May 2007–2009. The mean decrease in Arctic snow albedo from BC deposition is estimated to be 0.6% in spring, resulting in a regional surface radiative forcing consistent with previous estimates.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document