The excavation and analysis of a Dorset palaeoeskimo dwelling at Cape Ray, Newfoundland

Abstract

The first season of fieldwork from the Cape Ray Archaeology Project resulted in the discovery of a Dorset Palaeoeskimo dwelling, dating between approximately 1600 and 1400 years B.P. (before present). Prior to the discovery of this dwelling, the only area in Newfoundland to have produced clear evidence for a Dorset dwelling was at Port au Choix. The purpose of this thesis is threefold: 1) to describe the Dorset dwelling at Cape Ray; 2) to place the dwelling in the context of other Palaeoeskimo dwellings in the Arctic and Newfoundland; and 3) to place the dwelling in the context of site function at Cape Ray.