Abstract

The terminal Pre-Dorset period in Labrador (ca. 3200–2500 B.P.) saw the end of a long period of cultural stability and a relatively rapid cultural transformation to the Dorset-like Groswater Phase. A number of paleoeskimo sites dating to within this period have been investigated, permitting a view of this transformation with a resolution of approximately one century intervals. The evidence indicates an in situ cultural evolution, probably influenced by external ideas. On the other hand, the appearance of classic Dorset at ca. 2500 B.P. (termed the Early Dorset phase in Labrador), appears to represent the arrival of a new population, and the ultimate fate of the Groswater Dorset inhabitants of northern Labrador remains unclear.