Brooman Point Village facts for kids

Brooman Point Village is an ancient village site found in Nunavut, Canada. It's located in the very cold, northern part of the world called the High Arctic, specifically on Bathurst Island. This village was once home to two different groups of people: the Late Dorset culture and the Early Thule culture. Scientists have found many important tools and buildings here, like longhouses, that tell us a lot about these ancient cultures. People lived at Brooman Point at different times, from about 2000 BC to 1 AD, and then again from about 900 to 1200 AD.

History of Brooman Point Village

Archaeologists have dug up many clues at Brooman Point. They show that the Dorset culture people lived here first, from around 2000 BC to 1 AD. Later, another group called the Thule people built their village right on top of the Dorset site. The Thule lived here from about 900 to 1200 AD.

The Thule people were very clever. When they built their houses, they used whale bones for walls. They also put many Dorset tools and carvings into the walls of their homes. This helped keep these older items safe in the frozen ground, like a time capsule! Thule houses had flat or slightly sloped roofs. Some even had a small kitchen area. When the Thule people left Brooman Point, they left behind stone boxes and many carvings. These carvings show humans and animals, and they are some of the largest collections of Dorset carvings ever found.

Dorset Culture: The Early Arctic Settlers

The Dorset culture existed from about 500 BC to 1500 AD. We know about them from archaeological sites all along the coast of Arctic Canada. The Dorset people were descendants of even older groups called the Pre-Dorset Culture.

Compared to their ancestors, the Dorset people had a more successful way of life. They lived in more permanent houses made of snow and turf. They kept warm using lamps that burned oil from soapstone. They might have also used dog sleds and kayaks to travel. The Dorset people were skilled hunters, especially of sea mammals. They could even hunt large animals like walruses and narwhals. Around 500 BC, some Dorset people moved south to the Labrador coast and lived on the island of Newfoundland for about 1000 years. Around 1000 AD, most Dorset people were replaced by the Thule Inuit, who came from Alaska. However, some Dorset groups continued to live in northern Québec and Labrador until about 1500 AD.

Thule Culture: The Ancestors of the Inuit

The Thule culture existed from about 1000 AD to 1600 AD. This period marks when the Alaskan Inuit spread across Arctic Canada. They slowly replaced the Dorset Palaeo-Eskimos who lived there before them.

The Thule people brought advanced hunting tools with them. These tools were developed in the Bering Sea area. They were expert hunters and could even hunt huge bowhead whales. They were able to store enough food to live in permanent villages during the winter. Their houses were built from stone, whale bones, and turf. Most Thule tools were made from bone, antler, ivory, and wood. They didn't use many stone tools. Instead, they preferred sharp edges made from metal, which they found naturally or got from Norse people in Greenland.

The Thule culture started to decline after about 1600 AD. This was due to a combination of colder weather and new diseases brought by contact with Europeans. However, the Thule people continued to live in Arctic Canada. They are the direct ancestors of the modern-day Inuit people.

Palaeo-Eskimo People: The "Old" Arctic Dwellers

The term "Palaeo-Eskimo" means "old Eskimo." This term is used to describe the people who lived in the Arctic before the Thule culture arrived. The Thule people are the direct ancestors of the Inuit who live in the Canadian north today. Palaeo-Eskimo peoples might be distantly related to the Inuit, but they are not the direct ancestors of any modern Arctic group.