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In the eastern Canadian Arctic, a shift in toolstone selection strategies from pre-dorset (4500-2800 B.P.) to dorset (2500-1000 B.P.) has been interpreted as one line of evidence indicating culture change within the palaeo-Eskimo continuum. pre-dorset toolmakers appear to have relied on readily available local cherts while dorset toolmakers were more discriminating, frequently using scarce or non-local toolstones such as chalcedony from northern labrador, crystal quartz, and nephrite, among others. our recent analysis of a debitage assemblage from ledx-42, a multi-component palaeo-Eskimo site located in the interior of southern Bafin island, aimed to see if similar raw material signatures could be isolated using a newly developed methodological approach for sourcing chert toolstone. one of our objectives in this preliminary study was to evaluate if diversity in chert selection strategies could be used as a proxy to assess possible links between cultural affiliation and activity areas within the site. this paper describes the sourcing protocol and discusses our results as they relate to the palaeo-Eskimo exploitation of chert toolstone at LeDx-42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inuit Elders from the West Coast of Hudson Bay, Canada remember the past to serve the present. This paper describes a mapping and oral history project that is gathering Elders' knowledge of the people, places, sites, and resources that populated their vast traditional territory. We discuss the Elders' conception of this work within the framework of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangiit (Inuit knowledge) and how these understandings are actively contributing to the form and direction of the project. We explore how the Elders' knowledge is used to inform and animate the archaeological findings of the project. These broader discussions are focused around an examination of the tentative links between an historic Inuit trader named Ullebuk (Ouligbuk) and archaeological features uncovered at a site located near Arviat, Nunavut. Finally, we discuss how the Elders' work is trained on the goal of serving their people, particularly the rapidly expanding population of Inuit youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]