ABSTRACT
The Palaeo-Eskimos were the first widespread occupants of Arctic North America. They are associated with archaeological complexes related to the Arctic Small Tool tradition, among them the Denbigh Flint Complex, Independence, Saqqaq, Pre-Dorset and Dorset cultures. The archaeological evidence of their occupation extends from southwestern Alaska to northeastern Greenland. The Palaeo-Eskimos first appeared between 4000 and 5000 years ago, and continued in some regions of the Central and Eastern Arctic until well into the past millenium when they disappeared from the archaeological record (Figure 9.1). Their demise is often related to the eastward movement of ancestral Inuit people from their original homelands in Alaska (McGhee 1996).
