Back to Search
Start Over
The influence of a lost society, the Sadlermiut, on the environment in the Canadian Arctic.
- Source :
-
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2021 Sep 16; Vol. 11 (1), pp. 18504. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Sep 16. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- High latitude freshwater ecosystems are sentinels of human activity and environmental change. The lakes and ponds that characterize Arctic landscapes have a low resilience to buffer variability in climate, especially with increasing global anthropogenic stressors in recent decades. Here, we show that a small freshwater pond in proximity of the archaeological site "Native Point" on Southampton Island (Nunavut, Arctic Canada) is a highly sensitive environmental recorder. The sediment analyses allowed for pinpointing the first arrival of Sadlermiut culture at Native Point to ~ 1250 CE, followed by a dietary shift likely in response to the onset of cooling in the region ~ 1400 CE. The influence of the Sadlermiut on the environment persisted long after the last of their population perished in 1903. Presently, the pond remains a distorted ecosystem that has experienced fundamental shifts in the benthic invertebrate assemblages and accumulated anthropogenic metals in the sediment. Our multi-proxy paleolimnological investigation using geochemical and biological indicators emphasizes that direct and indirect anthropogenic impacts have long-term environmental implications on high latitude ecosystems.<br /> (© 2021. The Author(s).)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2045-2322
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Scientific reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34531423
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-97631-7