ABSTRACT
Around 2,500 bc the first representatives from the cultural complex called the Arctic Small Tool Tradition arrived in the western part of Greenland, where it is called the Saqqaq culture. In Northeast Greenland it is called Independence I. This paper presents new results from the Saqqaq culture in the Sisimiut region of West Greenland. At the time of its arrival the culture had a fully developed technology designed to exploit both marine and terrestrial resources. But new investigations at the site of Nipisat in the municipality of Sisimiut show that changes took place around 1600–1400 bc. A new tool kit of different bone artefacts appears, which is interpreted as hunting gear for walrus and perhaps also for baleen whales.
