The organization of late Dorset lithic technology at the LdFa-1 site in southern Baffin Island, Nunavut

Abstract

This study represents the first of its kind to examine an extensive lithic debitage assemblage from a Late Dorset inland occupation. The assemblage derives from an isolated Late Dorset component at the LdFa-1 site, located along the northwest shore of Mingo Lake in the deep interior of southern Baffin Island. A study sample of 7,479 lithic debitage is systematically drawn and analyzed using two methodological approaches: individual attribute analysis and mass analysis. Patterns of variability derived from the analysis are isolated and interpreted within a technological organizational framework to identify Late Dorset lithic reduction and use strategies at the site. Using a multi-scalar approach, these results are then compared to those obtained from two inland Pre-Dorset sites, known as Sandy Point (LlDv-10) and Mosquito Ridge (MaDv-11) to draw some conclusions about how Palaeo-Eskimo populations more broadly organized their lithic technologies and used this terrestrial landscape over time.