– 13 –
Contraction and Expansion
in Newfoundland Prehistory, AD 900–1500
M. A. P. Renouf and Trevor Bell
This chapter looks at the abandonment of
Newfoundland at around 1170 cal BP by oncethriving­Dorset Paleo-Eskimo populations and
the subsequent expansion of resident Recent
Indian groups.1 We connect these processes to
each other, to the abandonment of a strategic
Dorset site in northwestern Newfoundland, and
to a warming period demonstrated for this region beginning at 1400 cal BP and peaking at
1100 cal BP. We speculate that this warming was
a local expression of a more general phenomenon. This case study is an example of how cause
and effect can reverberate within and across cultural systems.
Cultural Context
Dorset Paleo-Eskimos (1950–1050 cal BP) are
an Arctic-adapted population that moved into
Newfoundland (Figure 13.1) from the eastern
Arctic via Labrador. Their sites are numerous
in Newfoundland, occurring mostly in coastal
­areas and to a much lesser extent the interior
(Pastore 1986; Schwarz 1994). A large proportion
of Dorset coastal sites are in exposed areas such
as islands, headlands, and points of land, reflecting their sea mammal hunting focus (Holly 1997,
2002; Pastore 1986; Rast 1999; Schwarz 1994).
The large size of many Dorset sites, their rich
artifact assemblages, and the identification of
local Dorset populations through distinct patterns of end blade morphology and lithic raw
material (Erwin 2001; Leblanc 2000; Robbins
1985, 1986) indicate a low residential mobility
for these groups.
Recent Indian populations appear in Newfoundland at around 2070 cal BP, likely coming from Labrador but connected to the wider
Gulf of St. Lawrence region. Recent Indian sites
are fewer and smaller than Dorset sites. They
are well represented in both exposed and sheltered coastal areas as well as inland, suggesting
a more generalized marine-terrestrial adaptation (Holly 1997, 2002; Pastore 1986; Rast 1999;
Schwarz 1994). Small site size and relatively few
artifacts indicate a high residential mobility.
The Recent Indian period is divided into
three complexes: Cow Head (2070–930 cal BP),
Beaches (2000–910 cal BP), and Little Passage
(1100–360 cal BP). There are relatively few Cow
Head complex sites and fewer still that comprise more than a few artifacts within a larger
Beaches complex assemblage. As pointed out by
Hull (2002), Hartery (2002), and Holly (2002),
Cow Head is stylistically distinct from Beaches
and therefore is unlikely to be ancestral to it;
broadly overlapping radiocarbon dates support
this observation. There is general agreement
that the Beaches and Little Passage complexes
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Figure 13.1. Location map.
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Contraction and Expansion in Newfoundland Prehistory
Figure 13.2. Date ranges for Newfoundland Recent Indian complexes and Dorset
Paleo-Eskimos. As more sites are dated these ranges will likely change. The number
of radiocarbon dates that define each of the Dorset, Cow Head, Beaches, and Little
Passage age ranges is, respectively, 77, 23, 22, and 26; excluded are radiocarbon dates
that are anomalous, are in poor context, or have an error range greater than ±120
years. Data are from published and unpublished dates.
form a cultural continuum that evolves into the
historic Beothuk period (Hartery 2002; Holly
2002; Hull 2002; Pastore 1992; Schwarz 1984);
there is overlap between the calendar age ranges
here as well, but it is minimal. For the purpose
of this chapter, we exclude Cow Head complex
data and deal only with Beaches and Little Passage complexes, the former contemporary with
Dorset occupations and the latter postdating
them (Figure 13.2).
Dorset in Newfoundland:
Entry and Abandonment
We look at Dorset entry into and subsequent
abandonment of Newfoundland at two interconnected scales, site specific and pan-​
Newfoundland­. We first look at the abandonment of an important Dorset site on the
northwest coast and then address the Dorset
population collapse throughout Newfoundland.
Phillip’s Garden
Phillip’s Garden is a 2-ha (4-acre) Dorset site
at Port au Choix on the Northern Peninsula of
Newfoundland (Figure 13.1). The site was occupied over a period of 800 years according to 37
charcoal-based radiocarbon dates ranging from
1950 to 1170 cal BP (Figure 13.3).2 There are remains of at least 68 dwellings, some of which are
very large, with footprints ranging between 75
and 103 m2 (807–1,108 ft2 [Renouf 2003a, 2006]).
Site occupation is divided into three arbitrary
phases based on intensity of occupation derived from overlapping calibrated radiocarbon
dates: early (1950–1550 cal BP), middle (1550–1350
cal BP), and late (1350–1170 cal BP; Figure 13.3).
Of the 15 dated dwellings, one–three of them
overlap during the early phase; five–seven, from
the middle phase; and two–three, from the late
phase. This suggests an initial low to medium
population, increasing to a maximum, then returning to a medium level before abandonment (see also Erwin 1995; Harp 1976). Harp
(1976) suggested that each dwelling housed
one extended family or two related families, although the large size of some of the dwellings
suggests that this estimate is conservative (Renouf 2006). For instance, accounts of Inuit and
Alaskan Eskimo winter dwellings in the medium size range (15–40 m2) describe two–seven
families per house (Lee and Reinhardt 2003).
While we cannot establish actual contemporaneity of dwellings at Phillip’s Garden, and while
only a small proportion of the known dwellings are dated (15/68), it is clear that the population of Phillip’s Garden was large through
all phases, consisting of at least several families.
This suggests that Phillip’s Garden was a social
gathering site, a type that is well documented
among hunting and gathering populations and
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Renouf and Bell
Figure 13.3. Dated dwellings at Phillip’s Garden site. H# refers to a dwelling excavated
by Elmer Harp (1976), and F# refers to a dwelling excavated by Renouf (2002, 2006).
The vertical bar represents the 1σ probability range for the calibrated radiocarbon
date. The small circle within each bar represents the median probability calendar age.
an ­essential part of the annual rhythm of population aggregation and dispersal (Damas 1969;
Lee 1972; Mauss 1979; Turnbull 1968).
Gathering sites were important places
where families congregated to engage in the
social and ritual activities that defined, taught,
and reaffirmed their shared cultural identity. If
Phillip’s Garden was such a place, it would have
been important on a number of levels. It would
have been economically important since many
people necessitated a large supply of food. It
would have been socially important since families gathered together as a community. It would
have been ritually important given the likely
symbolic aspect of the hunt and of the many
social and ritual activities that would have taken
place.
In addition, the location of Phillip’s Garden was important. It is situated in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence just south of the narrow Strait of
Belle Isle across which direct and/or indirect
contact occurred between Dorset populations
on both sides, as it did through all precontact
cultural periods (Hull 2002; Pintal 1998; Renouf
1999). Nagle (1986) notes that Newfound­land
Dorset sites contain small amounts of Ramah
chert from northern Labrador and contemporaneous Labrador Dorset sites have small
amounts of fine-grained cherts from the Newfoundland west coast. Phillip’s Garden was
strategically located at the crossroads of this interchange. Perhaps its social and symbolic importance as a gathering site enhanced its role in
this communication network.
Phillip’s Garden was located where it was
because of the harp seal hunt. Large harp seal
herds migrate by Port au Choix twice during the
winter. In the fall they swim from Greenland
south to their breeding grounds in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence (Sergeant 1991). When they pass
through the Strait of Belle Isle in December
they are in open water. After they give birth to
their young on the ice in April/May they begin
their return journey, moving northward at the
receding edge of the seasonal pack ice. A persistent ice lead is known to occur a few kilometers offshore from Phillip’s Garden, and harp
seals congregate in this open water (Leblanc
1996). According to local seal hunters, April /
May is the best time for seal hunting because of
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Contraction and Expansion in Newfoundland Prehistory
Figure 13.4. a) Variations of summer lake water temperature from the present for the last 2,000 years
based on chironomid remains in a sediment core from Bass Pond, Port au Choix. Chironomid data and
temperature reconstructions are from Rosenberg 1998 and Rosenberg et al. 2005. b) Paleo-sea-surface
conditions for the Bay of Islands are derived by Levac (2003) from transfer functions using dinocyst
assemblages from a marine sediment core. The solid black line represents the best estimate, while the
gray shaded area corresponds to the confidence interval. The vertical line through each curve indicates
modern values. c) The duration of sea ice cover is the period of time for which at least 50 percent of
the sea surface is covered by ice. Levac’s (2003) radiocarbon chronology was calibrated to calendar
years using Calib 4.4html (Stuiver and Reimer 1993).
this predictable offshore access (Leblanc 1996).
By contrast, in December the seals may appear
in any one of a number of areas: off the coast
of Port au Choix, off the coast of the Quebec
Lower North Shore, or in the middle of the
Strait of Belle Isle.
Phillip’s Garden has rich and well-preserved­
faunal assemblages that are overwhelmingly
dominated by seal. Of the Phocidae bones that
could be identified to species, over 90 percent
were harp seal, and therefore we assume that
most of the bones that are identifiable only to
genus are harp as well. Although these assemblages indicate both a December (Hodgetts
2005) and an April/May seal hunt (Harp 1976;
Hodgetts et al. 2003; Murray 1992; Renouf 1993),
it is likely that the April/May seal hunt was the
more important focus of exploitation and was
therefore the subsistence basis for the large population.
Despite its obvious prosperity Phillip’s Garden was abandoned by 1170 cal BP (Figure 13.3).
In two faunal collections dating to 1420–1230
cal BP, Hodgetts et al. (2003) show a shift away
from the 90–100 percent reliance on harp seal to
an increase (20–30 percent) in the proportion of
fish and birds, mirroring the decline in human
population at around the same time.
Hodgetts et al. (2003) connect this decline
to a high-resolution chironomid sequence reconstructed from Bass Pond (Figure 13.1), close
to Phillip’s Garden (Rosenberg 1998; Rosenberg
et al. 2005). Chironomids, or midges, consist of
a number of temperature-sensitive species that
can be proxy for freshwater temperature and
other environmental variables. Figure 13.4a
shows the variation in maximum summer lake
temperature relative to the present (Rosenberg
et al. 2005). A warming period begins at 1400
cal BP and reaches a temperature maximum at
around 1100 cal BP.
A rise in sea temperature occurred at the
same time in the Bay of Islands, about 200 km
to the south (Levac 2003). Dinocyst proxy data
and paleobioclimatic transfer functions are
used by Levac (2003) to reconstruct sea surface
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Renouf and Bell
Figure 13.5. Dorset site distribution in Newfoundland. Large sites are named.
t­ emperature and ice conditions (Figure 13.4b–c).
These data suggest that winter sea surface temperature sustained a late Holocene maximum
at 1500–1150 cal BP (Figure 13.4b) and, significantly, sea ice cover was virtually absent during
the same period (Figure 13.4c).
Together these data suggest that on the west
coast of Newfoundland the period around 1500–
1100 cal BP was one of warmer seasonal temperatures. These might have affected ice conditions
off Phillip’s Garden in a number of ways: the
pack ice might have been lighter and present for
a shorter duration, thereby reducing the period
of harp seal availability; the timing and distribution of the pack ice and associated harp seal
herds might have been less predictable, thus undermining an important aspect of the hunt; or
the ice lead offshore of Phillip’s Garden might
have been larger and therefore the ice edge was
less accessible with small-craft technology. We
can only speculate. However, Bass Pond sum-
mer temperature peaked just after site abandonment, suggesting that continuously rising
temperatures might have undermined the conditions of site use to the point where its large
population was no longer supportable.
Regional Dorset
The Dorset occupation of Newfoundland was
intensive. Figure 13.5 shows the distribution of
the 199 known Dorset sites in Newfoundland.3
Not only were these sites numerous, but some
of them were quite large, extending over .5 ha (1
acre) or more: Cape Ray on the southwest coast,
the Pittman site in White Bay (Fogt 1998; Linnamae 1975), Point Riche and Phillip’s Garden
at Port au Choix (Eastaugh 2002; Harp 1976;
Renouf 2002), Chest Head on the east coast of
the Northern Peninsula (Renouf and Bell 2003),
and the Dildo Island site in Trinity Bay (Leblanc 2003). Of these, Phillip’s Garden is by far
the most intensively occupied.
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Contraction and Expansion in Newfoundland Prehistory
Table 13.1. Oldest and Youngest Dorset Calendar Ages for Regions of Newfoundland.
Region
Northern Peninsula
North Coast
Northeast Coast
South Coast
Southwest Coast
n
Earliest Date:
Earliest Date:
Latest Date:
Latest Date:
Calibrated Age Median Probability Calibrated Age Median Probability
Range (1σ)
Age (cal bp)
Range (1σ)
Age (cal bp)
52
9
9
7
1
1950–1870
1820–1610
1930–1710
1880–1690
1920
1700
1820
1760
1260–1170
1260–1060
1290–1170
1350–1170
1300–1170
1180
1130
1200
1250
1210
Note: Four radiocarbon dates from the Northern Peninsula are excluded. Three are excluded because they are anomalous:
2140 ± 100 (Beta-23976), 677 ± 45 (BGS-2321), 959 ± 45 (BGS-2254). One is excluded because of a large error range:
1030 ± 290 (TO-9555). These dates are expressed in radiocarbon years BP.
We looked at the pattern of Dorset occupation in Newfoundland across five regions:
the Northern Peninsula, the north coast (Notre
Dame Bay and White Bay), the northeast coast
(Bonavista Bay and Trinity Bay), the south coast
(Placentia Bay to Cape Ray), and the southwest
coast (Cape Ray to the Bay of Islands). Table
13.1 shows the oldest and youngest calibrated
age ranges and median probability age for Dorset sites in each area. Figure 13.6, based on this
table, shows the Dorset entry into and abandonment of Newfoundland, both of which occurred within a narrow time frame. The entry
occurred between 1950 and 1610 cal BP, with the
earliest date coming from the Northern Peninsula, as would be expected of a population arriving from Labrador. Abandonment occurred
between 1350 and 1060 cal BP. In four regions
the youngest end of the 1σ probability range is
1170 cal BP, suggesting a synchroneity of abandonment across a number of regions. While
we do not know if Dorset groups moved out
of Newfoundland (Renouf 1999) or became extinct (Tuck and Pastore 1985), this synchronous
disappearance of a series of local populations
across a widespread area can be characterized as
a population collapse.
land similar to those demonstrated for the west
coast and (2) the abandonment of Phillip’s Garden. The warming seen in the Port au Choix
and the Bay of Islands data could have been a
strictly local event or, more likely, is a local example of a more general phenomenon. Unfortunately, there are no high-resolution paleoclimate data from other coastal regions to test this.
For example, none of the existing pollen records
from Newfoundland has the temporal resolution necessary to identify conditions between
1500 and 1150 cal BP (e.g., Macpherson 1995),
whereas many marine-based chronologies either are poorly constrained for this period (e.g.,
Dinn 1999), have low resolution (e.g., de ­Vernal
et al. 1993), or are located well offshore (e.g.,
Scott et al. 1989). The cause of the late Holocene
warm sea surface interval in the Bay of Islands
is partly attributed to increasing winter solar
insulation (Levac 2003), which is supported by
atmospheric general circulation models (­Alley
et al. 1999). Such insulation increases would
probably equally affect coastal sea surface conditions around Newfoundland but would have
a diminished effect in more open waters where
changes in ocean current strength and position
would be the dominant influence on such short
time scales (Fillon 1976; Levac and de Vernal
1997). We therefore speculate that the warming
conditions seen in the west coast records occurred more widely throughout coastal Newfoundland. Similar to our speculations about the
Discussion
Two factors could account for this Dorset population collapse: (1) the speculated increasing
temperatures throughout coastal Newfound269
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Renouf and Bell
Figure 13.6. Oldest and youngest Dorset calendar ages in Newfoundland,
showing the narrow range for initial occupation and subsequent abandonment.
Note, however, the much tighter cluster for the younger dates. See Table 13.1
for details of age ranges. Data are from published and unpublished dates.
potential impact of warmer sea surface and lake
conditions at Phillip’s Garden, warming conditions throughout coastal Newfoundland might
have affected pack ice, the ice-dependent harp
herds, and the seal-specialized Dorset hunters.
Pastore (1986) and Tuck and Pastore (1985) earlier argued that this specialization on harp seal
hunting would have left the Dorset vulnerable
to environmental changes.
If such circumstances existed, how would
Dorset populations have managed? Renouf
(1999) addressed this question when she argued
that Newfoundland hunter-gatherers, like all
hunter-gatherer groups living in high-risk environments, would have had well-established
processes for offsetting uncertainty, primarily
through local and distant networks of reciprocal obligations. For Newfoundland huntergatherers­ this would have involved kin and
non-kin sharing networks throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. But if Dorset had such
risk-reducing mechanisms in place, why did the
population collapse?
We suggest that this is connected to the
abandonment of Phillip’s Garden. We noted
that this population aggregation locale, with its
important subsistence, social, and ritual functions, was strategically located between Newfoundland and Labrador. We also noted that
there was communication between these two regions during Dorset times, reflected in the small
amounts of Labrador lithics at Newfoundland
sites and Newfoundland cherts in Labrador
sites (Nagle 1986). No doubt these lithics were
important not only in themselves but for the
network of near and distant ties that they represented. Near ties were important to offset localized resource fluctuations when visits to kin and
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Contraction and Expansion in Newfoundland Prehistory
non-kin in nearby areas could provide access to
different conditions. However, distant ties were
crucial when fluctuations were widespread, in
which case near ties were experiencing the same
conditions and were not in a position to help. In
the case of a speculated 1500–1100 cal BP warming across Newfoundland, Labrador networks
would have been crucial. However, if these networks were disrupted by the abandonment of an
important site at the gateway to Labrador, the
entire network of communications would be at
risk. The fall of such a key site could precipitate
a widespread population collapse.
game, and wood. Sites are also found in the interior, which provides shelter and from which
caribou can be hunted; small game, trapped; and
salmon and trout, fished (Holly 1997, 2002; Pastore 1986; Schwarz 1994).
We have argued in detail elsewhere (Renouf
2003b; Renouf et al. 2000) that these differences
were complementary, allowing populations of
both cultures to live in the same regions. This
can be seen in the spatial distribution of Dorset and Beaches complex sites. Figure 13.8a–b
shows the distribution of the 44 known Dorset sites and six Beaches complex sites in Notre
Dame Bay. Beaches sites occur in the same ­areas
as Dorset, but they are so few that it appears
that the Dorset presence was a disincentive to
Beaches occupation. In Bonavista Bay there are
28 Dorset sites and eight Beaches sites (Figure
13.9a–b). All the Beaches sites are in the same
location as Dorset sites; however, there are no
Beaches sites in Clode Sound, where there are
six Dorset sites. In Burgeo (Figure 13.10a–b)
there are 19 Dorset sites, many located in the
Burgeo Islands and some in the sheltered Big
Barasway. There are only two identified Beaches
complex sites, and both occur in areas where
Dorset sites are absent.
This pattern shifts after Dorset populations
vacate the landscape. Across Newfoundland, the
number of Recent Indian sites increases from
31 Beaches sites to 49 Little Passage sites (Figure 13.7b). There are eight Little Passage sites
in Notre Dame Bay (Figure 13.8c). In Bona­
vista Bay, the number of sites increases by only
one, but their location shifts to include the
now-available Clode Sound (Figure 13.9c). In
­Burgeo there are nine Little Passage sites, most
in the Burego Islands and Big Barasway (Figure 13.10c). These patterns suggest that Beaches
complex populations were held in check by
the more numerous and more settled Dorset.
However, with their removal from the landscape
­Little Passage complex populations could expand into previously occupied areas. The timing
of the Little Passage expansion across regions is
Recent Indians in Newfoundland:
Containment and Expansion
How Dorset abandonment affected Newfoundland’s resident Recent Indian population
is rooted in the prior relationship between these
groups, that is, the relationship between Dorset
and Beaches complex populations. Figure 13.5
shows the intensive character of Dorset occupation. By contrast, Beaches complex occupation of Newfoundland was light. Figure 13.7a
shows 31 identified Beaches sites, most of which
are small.4 Some of the largest Beaches complex sites are Cape Freels 1, 2, and 3, which extend along a .25-km beach ridge; however, these
three sites consist of a palimpsest of hearths that
reflects the seasonal and brief nature of the occupation (Carignan 1977).
These differences reflect distinctive economic patterns, with different emphases on
coastal and interior resources. They also reflect
different patterns of residential mobility. These
economic and mobility differences are expressed
in patterns of site location. Research over the
past decades has shown that while both Dorset
and Recent Indian populations occupied coastal
areas, a greater proportion of Dorset sites is at
the outer coast, which provides access to harp
seals. In contrast, more Recent Indian sites are
found in the inner coast, which provides access
to a wide range of resources such as harbor seal,
ducks, seabirds, shellfish, anadromous fish, small
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Figure 13.7. Site distribution in Newfoundland: (a) Beaches, (b) Little
Passage. A group of three large sites is named (from the Provincial
Archaeology Office site database, 2004).
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Figure 13.8. (above) Site distribution in Notre
Dame Bay: (a) Dorset, (b) Beaches, (c) Little Passage (from the Provincial Archaeology Office site
database, 2004).
Figure 13.9. (right) Site distribution in Bonavista
Bay: (a) Dorset, (b) Beaches, (c) Little Passage
(from the Provincial Archaeology Office site database, 2004).
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Renouf and Bell
Table 13.2. Oldest Little Passage Calendar Ages for Regions of Newfoundland.
Region
Northern Peninsula
North Coast
Northeast Coast
South Coast
Southwest Coast
n
2
2
16
1
1
Earliest Date:
Earliest Date:
Latest Date:
Latest Date:
Calibrated Age Median Probability Calibrated Age Median Probability
Range (1σ)
Age (cal bp)
Range (1σ)
Age (cal bp)
990–910
930–880
1090–960
560–510
760–660
940
860
1050
550
720
no later dates
no later dates
429–364
no later dates
no later dates
379
Note: There is one radiocarbon date from the interior that is not included: 335 ± 100 bp (I-6562).
unclear, since 16 of the 23 Little Passage radio­
carbon dates come from the northeast coast,
leaving the other regions poorly dated, with one
to three dates each. In the northeast, however,
the dates range more or less continuously from
1090–970 to 430–360 cal BP (Table 13.2), suggesting that in this area at least, expansion occurred not long after Dorset abandonment at
1290–1170 cal BP (Table 13.1).
What areas did Little Passage groups expand into? Holly (2002) shows that Little Passage population expansion occurred mostly
in the inner coastal areas, with 41 percent of
Beaches sites in the inner coastal area increasing to 51 percent during Little Passage times. We
suggest that two independent processes made
the inner bay areas more attractive to Little Passage groups: the absence of Dorset groups and,
as speculated, warmer sea conditions. Higher
winter sea surface temperatures would have resulted in less winter ice, earlier springs, and increased marine and terrestrial productivity. In
other words, the same marine climate conditions that would have undermined the specialized sea mammal Dorset adaptation would
have favored the more generalized Recent Indian pattern.
Figure 13.10. Site distribution in Burgeo: (a) Dorset, (b) Beaches, (c) Little Passage (from the Provincial Archaeology Office site database, 2004).
Conclusion
This chapter addresses what was happening
in Newfoundland from 1200 to 1000 cal BP, a
time period during which two cultural groups
lived there, Dorset Paleo-Eskimos and Re274
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Contraction and Expansion in Newfoundland Prehistory
cent Indians. The former was at the end of its
lengthy occupation, and the latter was on the
brink of expansion and a settlement shift. We
examine Dorset abandonment at the site level
and across Newfoundland. We link the abandonment of the large and intensively occupied
Phillip’s Garden site to sea surface and lake temperature maximums seen in high-resolution paleoclimate data from that region. We speculate
that warming sea surface temperatures might
have occurred throughout coastal Newfoundland and if so, might have undermined Dorset
seal hunters in all regions. We also link Dorset population collapse to the abandonment of
Phillip’s Garden, which we argue was strategically located between Newfoundland and Lab-
rador. We argue that this would have disrupted
important links between these two regions and
that with this disruption, Dorset populations
throughout Newfoundland became increasingly
vulnerable in the face of increasing environmental stress on harp seal resources.
With Dorset gone, Recent Indian populations increased and expanded, in some cases
moving into regions previously occupied by
Dorset, in particular inner coastal areas. The
speculated marine warming conditions that
would have been unfavorable for Dorset sea
mammal hunting at the outer coast would have
been favorable for inner coastal areas, providing
warmer sea surface temperatures, a shorter sea
ice season, and more productive resources.
Acknowledgments
exclude it from the definition of the chronological range of Phillip’s Garden.
3. All site totals are based on the Provincial Archaeology Office site database as of 2004 and
include only those sites for which there is a positive cultural identification. These numbers will
change as new sites are found and new cultural
identifications are made.
4. The term site used here and in the following sections denotes a site or a site component.
Multiyear funding has been provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Science and Engineering Research
Council, the Canada Research Chairs Program,
Parks Canada, and the J. R. Smallwood Foundation
for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies. The Provincial Archaeology Office (PAO) of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, generously
allowed us to use its detailed site database and site
location maps. We would like to especially thank
Steve Hull of the PAO, who provided us with base
maps and responded to all requests for information.
Thanks go to David Mercer of Memorial University
Cartographic Lab for drafting the figures. Thanks
also go to Herb Maschner for inviting us to speak in
the session “The Northern World ad 1100–1350” at
the 2004 Society for American Archaeology annual
meeting, thus prompting us to examine this time
period in Newfoundland’s past.
References Cited
Alley, R. B., A. M. Agutsdottir, and P. J. Fawcett
1999 Ice-Core Evidence of Late-Holocene Reduction in North Atlantic Ocean Heat
Transport. In Mechanisms of Global Climate
Change at Millennial Time Scales, edited by
P. U. Clark, R. S. Webb, and L. D. Keigwin,
pp. 310–312. Geophysical Monograph 112.
American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.
Carignan, P.
1977 Beothuck Archaeology in Bonavista Bay. Archaeological Survey of Canada, Mercury
­Series 69. National Museums of Canada,
Ottawa.
Damas, D.
1969 Environment, History and Central Eskimo
Society. In Contributions to Anthropology:
Ecological Essays, edited by D. Damas, pp. 40–
64. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa.
Notes
1. Except where indicated, all calendar dates in
this chapter were calibrated using Calib 4.4html
(Stuiver and Reimer 1993) and are represented
by their 1-sigma probability range.
2. There is one older date of 2140 ± 100 radiocarbon years BP (Beta-23976), but since this date is
anomalously old by 170 radiocarbon years in the
context of 82 Dorset dates in Newfoundland, we
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Renouf and Bell
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