An edition of Ancient People of the Arctic (1996)

Ancient people of the Arctic

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Last edited by MARC Bot
August 4, 2024 | History
An edition of Ancient People of the Arctic (1996)

Ancient people of the Arctic

  • 1 Want to read

Ancient People of the Arctic traces the lives of the Palaeo-Eskimos, the bold first explorers of the Arctic. Four thousand years ago, these people entered the far northern extremes of the North American continent, carving a living out of their bleak new homeland.

From the hints they left behind, accessible only through the fragmented archaeological record, Robert McGhee ingeniously reconstructs a picture of this life at the margins. He discusses how the Palaeo-Eskimos spread across the entire Arctic, explains how they dealt with sharp climate changes that drastically altered their environment, offers glimpses into their spiritual practices and world view, and speculates about their eventual demise.

For three thousand years, the Palaeo-Eskimos not only successfully adapted to their frozen land but also developed a rich cultural life. Their archaeological sites yield a trove of beautifully crafted tools made from bone, ivory, quartz, and flint.

The Palaeo-Eskimos have left far more than the hundreds of pieces of art recovered by archaeologists and the evidence of human ingenuity and endurance on the perimeter of the habitable world. Their most valuable legacy lies in the realization that these two things occurred together and were part of the same phenomenon. They provide an example of lives lived richly and joyfully amid dangers and insecurities that are beyond the imagination of the present world.

Publish Date
Publisher
UBC Press
Language
English
Pages
244

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Ancient People of the Arctic
Ancient People of the Arctic
December 2001, UBC Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: Ancient people of the Arctic
Ancient people of the Arctic
1996, UBC Press
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-237) and index.

Published in
Vancouver, BC

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
971.9/01
Library of Congress
E99.E7 M4658 1996, E99.E7M4658 1996

The Physical Object

Pagination
xii, 244 p., [16] p. of plates :
Number of pages
244

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL717124M
Internet Archive
ancientpeopleofa00mcgh
ISBN 10
0774805536
LCCN
97102960
OCLC/WorldCat
35765532
Library Thing
2339415
Goodreads
4516978

Work Description

Ancient People of the Arctic traces the lives of the Palaeo-Eskimos, the bold first explorers of the Arctic. Four thousand years ago, these people entered the far northern extremes of the North American continent, carving a living out of their bleak new homeland.

From the hints they left behind, accessible only through the fragmented archaeological record, Robert McGhee ingeniously reconstructs a picture of this life at the margins. He discusses how the Palaeo-Eskimos spread across the entire Arctic, explains how they dealt with sharp climate changes that drastically altered their environment, offers glimpses into their spiritual practices and world view, and speculates about their eventual demise.

For three thousand years, the Paleo-Eskimos not only successfully adapted to their frozen land but also developed a rich cultural life. Their archaeological sites yield a trove of beautifully crafted tools made from bone, ivory, quartz, and flint. The Dorset culture, the last Palaeo-Eskimo people of the central and eastern Arctic, left an astounding assortment of art objects, preserved by the extreme cold of their environment: a caribou antler carved with images of more than sixty faces, each with a unique and realistic expression; a tiny ivory mask of a serene human face, carvings of bears sitting, prowling, and flying. Fully illustrated with photographs of this art and the landscape in which it was found, Ancient People of the Arctic presents an evocative picture of the first Arctic inhabitants and their adaptation as they moved across a variety of landscapes at the top of the hemisphere.

The Paleo-Eskimos have left far more than the hundreds of pieces of art recovered by archaeologists and the evidence of human ingenuity and endurance on the perimeter of the habitable world. Their most valuable legacy lies in the realization that these two things occurred together and were part of the same phenomenon. They provide an example of lives lived richly and joyfully amid dangers and insecurities that are beyond the imagination of the present world.

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History

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August 4, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
September 4, 2021 Edited by CricketNoises Added description
August 14, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
February 14, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page