Scope and Objectives
The
prehistoric use of soapstone for the fabrication of cooking pots and
oil lamps
in Newfoundland and Labrador is best known from Fleur de Lys 1
(EaBa-1), a
Dorset Palaeoeskimo quarry located on the northeast coast of
Newfoundland. The
recent completion of a multi year investigation of this quarry (Erwin
1998,
1999a, 1999b, 2000, 2001) has demonstrated the function and
significance of the
site, provided an understanding of quarrying technology, and suggested
the
quarry's place within Dorset subsistence and
settlement
strategies of the northeast region of the island from about AD 400 to
AD 800.
Based upon the study of the hundreds of quarrying scars that are
preserved in
the soapstone outcrops of Fleur de Lys, it was possible to determine
the number
and the range of vessel shapes and sizes that were produced at the
quarry. The
interpretation of these results, however, is limited by the lack of a
meaningful comparison to examples of finished soapstone vessels. Other
than a
few preliminary observations by de Laguna (1940), Harp (1964) and
Linnamae
(1975), that were based largely upon early ethnographic observations
amongst
Inuit groups in the Canadian Arctic (e.g. Boas 1888, Hough 1898, Turner
1894),
there remains a conspicuous gap in our understanding of soapstone
vessel form
and function in Newfoundland and Labrador Palaeoeskimo prehistory.
Throughout
the arctic, the use of soapstone might be explained as an environmental
adaptation related to a decreasing supply of firewood for cooking and
for
providing heat and light. In view the sub-arctic environment of
Newfoundland,
with an abundant supply of firewood, the continued use of soapstone for
a
period of 1000 years provides a glimpse of the socio-cultural
importance of
this component of Palaeoeskimo material culture (Erwin 2001:156-157).
The aim
of this project is to conduct the first comprehensive study of
soapstone
vessels from Palaeoeskimo sites in Newfoundland
and Labrador to further assess the importance
of
prehistoric soapstone use. Vessel form and function will be examined
over time
through a metric comparison and statistical analysis of vessels in
conjunction
with use analysis and radiocarbon dating. This study is also intended
to
determine the importance of soapstone use in Newfoundland
and Labrador by comparing the relative
frequency of
vessel fragments between these two regions. Preliminary investigation
of Dorset
Palaeoeskimo soapstone use suggests that there was a greater reliance
on
soapstone by Labrador groups as compared to
their Newfoundland
counterparts. The reasons for this distinction will be explored on the
basis of
the ecological differences between these two regions. These findings
will
complement my on-going research of the Fleur de Lys quarry by providing
a way
to further explore the evidence for changes in quarrying activities
over time.
Finally, at a larger scale, this study will also provide an important
baseline
from which to compare the use and meaning of soapstone by Palaeoeskimo
peoples
throughout the Eastern Arctic and Greenland.
Having
established the function and significance of the
quarry to the Dorset of the island, it is now
possible to examine more complex issues such as
resource procurement, trade, and settlement patterning from social and
economic
and ideological perspectives. This
research attempts to assess the greater significance
of soapstone as a raw material in the production of culturally
meaningful
articles of Palaeoeskimo material culture. The proposed examination of
all utilized
Palaeoeskimo vessels from the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador
will provide the basis from which to compare the results of the
quarry
research, and in so doing, will allow for a better understanding of the
importance of soapstone to Palaeoeskimo peoples as a whole. While
researchers
have tacitly accepted the functional significance of soapstone vessels
used by
Palaeoeskimo peoples on the basis of ethnographic analogy, no
large-scale systematic study
of such vessels has ever been produced to test these assumptions.
Significance to Existing
Literature
Studies
of
Palaeoeskimo cultures on the island of Newfoundland have been
influenced by a west coast perspective that has stemmed from over 50
years of
investigations at the large and well-preserved Palaeoeskimo sites in
the town
of Port au Choix. Recent
investigations, including my own work,
since 1997 at Fleur de Lys; Fogt’s 1995-96 excavations at Cape Ray
Light Site; Rast’s 1996 survey of the south coast; and Le Blanc’s
ongoing study
of Dorset regional variation, are providing a better balanced view of
Palaeoeskimo prehistory than was previously possible. Palaeoeskimo
research
within the Province has largely been cultural historical in nature and
was
often site specific. Few studies outside of Port au Choix have
attempted to
address larger issues concerning Palaeoeskimo cultures as a whole.
While this
study of Palaeoeskimo vessels adds to our knowledge of one of the
country's
most unique archaeological sites in Fleur de Lys, it also facilitates
broader
questions of Palaeoeskimo material, social and economic culture. In so
doing,
this research will provide the basis from
which to
compare the use and meaning of soapstone throughout the Eastern Arctic
and
Greenland.
Research Methodology
A
metric and use analysis of utilized vessels from Palaeoeskimo sites
in Newfoundland and Labrador will be compared to the preform removal
scars from the
Fleur de
Lys quarry as a means to test the following hypotheses (Erwin 2001):
1. While
rectangular vessel forms tend
to be about 30% larger on average than oval forms, both forms appear to
be temporally contemporaneous, suggesting
differences in size and shape might be
accounted
for functionally.
2. Preform
vessel forms generally are
no larger than 30cm in length and/or width, suggesting that there were
limitations, functional, or otherwise to the quarrying process,
transportation
and/or use of larger vessels.
3. Rectangular
vessel forms outnumber
oval forms by almost 3 to 1, suggesting that oval forms were utilized
less
often, and/or, that they may have not been as prone to breakage as
their
rectangular counterparts.
4. There
are two categories of small
vessel forms based upon size and form that might be explained as the
difference
between the production of hand lamps and children's "little pots".
The relative importance of
soapstone to Palaeoeskimo peoples will be assessed by comparing the
results from the island of Newfoundland
and the
Labrador coast. Since the occupants of more southerly latitudes did not
experience total winter darkness, nor were they in short supply of wood
for
fuel, it can argued that the production of artificial light and heat
was
functionally not as important as it was in higher latitudes. From this,
the
following assumptions will be examined (Erwin 2001):
1.
Soapstone
had functionally less
significance to Newfoundland Dorset groups as compared to their
Labrador and
Arctic counterparts.
2. The
significance of soapstone to
Dorset groups in Newfoundland transcended simple functional
requirements for
the production of heat and light.
3. Social
and cultural meanings of
soapstone are a product of thousands of years of Palaeoeskimo
adaptation that
endured despite functional alternatives.
Bibliography
Boas, F.
1888 The Central Eskimo. In the Sixth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington.
de
Laguna, F.
1940 Eskimo
Lamps and Pots. Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 70,
Issue,
pp.53-76.
Erwin, J.C.
1998 Preliminary Field Report for the 1997 Fleur de Lys
Archaeology Project.
Unpublished report prepared for the Government of Newfoundland and
Labrador,
Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Culture and Heritage
Division,
St. John's Newfoundland.
1999a Fleur
de Lys Archaeological Project: A Report of the 1998 Field
Activities. Unpublished report prepared for the Government of
Newfoundland
and Labrador, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Culture
and
Heritage Division, St. John's Newfoundland.
1999b Final
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Newfoundland and
Labrador, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Culture and
Heritage
Division, St. John's Newfoundland.
2000 Final
Report for the 2000 Field Season, Fleur de Lys Archaeological
Project. Unpublished report prepared for the Provincial Archaeology
Office,
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's Newfoundland.
2001 A Prehistoric Soapstone Quarry in Fleur
de Lys Newfoundland. Ph.D. Unpublished dissertation, University of
Calgary,
Calgary Alberta.
Harp, E. Jr.
1964 The
Cultural Affinities of the Newfoundland Dorset Eskimo. National
Museums of Canada, Bulletin 200 Ottawa.
Hough,
W.
1971
[originally
published 1898] The Lamp of the Eskimo.
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U.
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Dorset Culture: A comparative Study in
Newfoundland and the Arctic.
Technical Papers of the Newfoundland Museum, Number 1.
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L.M.
1979
[Originally
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