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Down the Labrador: Ramah Chert Use at Phillip’s Garden, Port au Choix

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The Cultural Landscapes of Port au Choix

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

Abstract

This chapter presents an analysis of Ramah chert tools and debitage from the Dorset Palaeoeskimo site of Phillip’s Garden (EeBi-1). Although the presence of Ramah chert at this site has long been acknowledged (Anstey 2008; Bell and Renouf 2008; Kennett 1985; Renouf 1986), details of temporal, technological and social dynamics of Ramah chert use at the site have not been examined. These dynamics of Ramah chert use are addressed in three ways. First, based on a sample of six dwelling assemblages we describe the temporal patterns of Ramah chert use at Phillip’s Garden. Second, we describe Ramah chert reduction practices at the site. Third, we discuss the implications of our results for understanding the social dynamics at Phillip’s Garden and between Dorset populations in Newfoundland and Labrador.

*  “Down the Labrador” refers to the northward journey to Labrador by fishermen from Newfoundland (DNE 1990). The use of “down” when referring to north is based on sailing against or “down” the prevailing southwesterly winds.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     All dates in this paper are expressed in calibrated calendar years before present (cal BP) at a one-sigma probability range and were calibrated using Calib 6.0html (Stuiver and Reimer 1993).

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Acknowledgements

Multi-year funding for the Northern Peninsula Archaeology and Landscape History Project, of which the Port au Choix Archaeology Project is a part, has been provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the National Science and Engineering Research Council, NSERC, Parks Canada, the Canada Research Chairs Program, Memorial University and the Provincial Archaeology Office. Charles Conway, Memorial University Geography Department, drafted the map. We would also like to thank John Erwin, Dominique Lavers, Stephen Loring and Patricia Wells for their helpful and insightful comments on earlier drafts of this paper.

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  1. Department of Archaeology, Memorial University, St. John’s, NL, Canada, A1C 5S7

    Robert J. Anstey

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  1. Robert J. Anstey
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Correspondence to Robert J. Anstey .

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  1. Archaeology Unit, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, A1C 5S7, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

    M. A. P. Renouf

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Anstey, R.J., Renouf, M.A.P. (2011). Down the Labrador: Ramah Chert Use at Phillip’s Garden, Port au Choix. In: Renouf, M. (eds) The Cultural Landscapes of Port au Choix. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8324-4_10

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