Introduction

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Mason ◽  
Max Friesen
Keyword(s):  
The Arctic ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Archaeological Interpretation ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Excellent Preservation ◽  
Archaeological Cultures ◽  
Organic Remains

This chapter introduces the central issues relating to the archaeology of the North American Arctic, a region stretching 6,000 km from west to east and 3,000 km south to north. The region is characterized by a uniquely detailed ethnographic record, and excellent preservation of organic remains due to cold temperatures, which together allow particularly high-resolution interpretation of the archaeological record. Themes common to all northern archaeology covered in this chapter include the use of ethnographic analogy to understand ancient archaeological cultures, the role of climate change in archaeological interpretation, the construction of chronologies in an arctic setting, and the role of migration and interaction in the arctic past.

scholarly journals The Oxford Handbook of the Prehistoric Arctic

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Great Accuracy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic

The North American Arctic was one of the last regions on Earth to be settled by humans, due to its extreme climate, limited range of resources, and remoteness from populated areas. Despite these factors, it holds a rich and complex history relating to Inuit, Iñupiat, Inuvialuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples and their ancestors. The artifacts, dwellings, and food remains of these ancient peoples are remarkably well preserved due to cold temperatures and permafrost, allowing archaeologists to reconstruct their lifeways with great accuracy. Furthermore, the combination of modern Elders’ traditional knowledge with the region’s high-resolution ethnographic record allows past peoples’ lives to be reconstructed to a level simply not possible elsewhere. Combined, these factors yield an archaeological record of global significance—the Arctic provides ideal case studies relating to issues as diverse as the impacts of climate change on human societies, the complex process of interaction between indigenous peoples and Europeans, and the dynamic relationships between environment, economy, social organization, and ideology in hunter-gatherer societies. In this book, each Arctic cultural tradition is described in detail, with up-to-date coverage of recent interpretations of all aspects of their lifeways. Additional chapters cover broad themes applicable to the full range of arctic cultures, such as trade, stone tool technology, ancient DNA research, and the relationship between archaeology and modern arctic communities. The resulting volume, written by the region’s leading researchers, is by far the most comprehensive coverage of North American arctic archaeology ever assembled.

Inuguat

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Fitzhugh ◽  
Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Bering Sea ◽  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
The North ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Human Figure

Renderings of human figurines (inuguat) appear consistently throughout the archaeological record of the North American Arctic. Artefacts which date from the Old Bering Sea cultures in northwestern Alaska to the Dorset and Thule periods in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland include representations of the human figure, typically carved in ivory or wood. These images often reveal elemental concerns of Arctic peoples with regard to procreation, maternity, healing, shamanism, mortuary practice, and animal–human transformation. The persistent appearance of human figurines throughout the historical and contemporary periods demonstrates an abiding interest in the role of the human figure. Beyond the use of dolls as a source for children’s play, human figurines served as a means of developing skills for everyday life (and human survival) with a focus on social interaction, the hunt, and the creation of fur clothing, as well as on ceremonial activities and ritual practices.

Northward ho! Obama, Diefenbaker and the North American Arctic

Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-255
Author(s):  
Klaus J. Dodds
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Aleutian Islands ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
The North ◽  
American President ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
To Come ◽  
Franklin Delano Roosevelt ◽  
Lying Down

President Barrack Obama became, in September 2015, the first US president to travel north of the Arctic Circle. Having started his Alaskan itinerary in Anchorage, attending and speaking at a conference involving Secretary of State John Kerry and invited guests, the president travelled north to the small town of Kotzebue, a community of some 3000 people with the majority of inhabitants identifying as native American. Delivered to an audience in the local high school numbering around 1000, the 41st US president placed his visit within a longer presidential tradition of northern visitation: I did have my team look into what other Presidents have done when they visited Alaska. I’m not the first President to come to Alaska.Warren Harding spent more than two weeks here – which I would love to do. But I can't leave Congress alone that long. (Laughter.) Something might happen. When FDR visited – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – his opponents started a rumor that he left his dog, Fala, on the Aleutian Islands – and spent 20 million taxpayer dollars to send a destroyer to pick him up. Now, I’m astonished that anybody would make something up about a President. (Laughter.) But FDR did not take it lying down. He said, “I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks – but Fala does resent attacks. He's not been the same dog since.” (Laughter.) President Carter did some fishing when he visited. And I wouldn't mind coming back to Alaska to do some fly-fishing someday. You cannot see Alaska in three days. It's too big. It's too vast. It's too diverse. (Applause.) So I’m going to have to come back. I may not be President anymore, but hopefully I’d still get a pretty good reception. (Applause.) And just in case, I’ll bring Michelle, who I know will get a good reception. (Applause.) . . .. But there's one thing no American President has done before – and that's travel above the Arctic Circle. (Applause.) So I couldn't be prouder to be the first, and to spend some time with all of you (Obama 2015a).

scholarly journals Predictors of invertebrate biomass and rate of advancement of invertebrate phenology across eight sites in the North American Arctic

Polar Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-257
Author(s):  
Rebecca Shaftel ◽  
Daniel J. Rinella ◽  
Eunbi Kwon ◽  
Stephen C. Brown ◽  
H. River Gates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Availability ◽  
Population Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Chick Survival ◽  
The North ◽  
Phenological Mismatch ◽  
Nesting Sites ◽  
North American Arctic

AbstractAverage annual temperatures in the Arctic increased by 2–3 °C during the second half of the twentieth century. Because shorebirds initiate northward migration to Arctic nesting sites based on cues at distant wintering grounds, climate-driven changes in the phenology of Arctic invertebrates may lead to a mismatch between the nutritional demands of shorebirds and the invertebrate prey essential for egg formation and subsequent chick survival. To explore the environmental drivers affecting invertebrate availability, we modeled the biomass of invertebrates captured in modified Malaise-pitfall traps over three summers at eight Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network sites as a function of accumulated degree-days and other weather variables. To assess climate-driven changes in invertebrate phenology, we used data from the nearest long-term weather stations to hindcast invertebrate availability over 63 summers, 1950–2012. Our results confirmed the importance of both accumulated and daily temperatures as predictors of invertebrate availability while also showing that wind speed negatively affected invertebrate availability at the majority of sites. Additionally, our results suggest that seasonal prey availability for Arctic shorebirds is occurring earlier and that the potential for trophic mismatch is greatest at the northernmost sites, where hindcast invertebrate phenology advanced by approximately 1–2.5 days per decade. Phenological mismatch could have long-term population-level effects on shorebird species that are unable to adjust their breeding schedules to the increasingly earlier invertebrate phenologies.

The system-forming role of the Arctic cluster in the development of the economy of the North of Russia (on the example of the Murmansk region)

2020 ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Е.С. Хаценко ◽  
Л.С. Лычкина
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Murmansk Region ◽  
The Creation

Представленная статья посвящена теоретико-правовым аспектам формирования экономической политики Российской Арктики, создание и регулирование Арктического экономического кластера. The presented article is devoted to the theoretical and legal aspects of the formation of the economic policy of the Russian Arctic, the creation and regulation of the Arctic economic cluster.

The Arctic Institute of North America

Polar Record ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 8 (52) ◽  
pp. 22-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Baird
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North American ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Reference Information ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Mcgill University

The Arctic Institute of North America was established in 1945 in two small rooms in McGill University, with a staff consisting of Dr Lincoln Washburn and a secretary, who made up for the lack of equipment and facilities by abundant energy and enthusiasm. Since then the Institute's growth has been considerable, always in the direction of its three main objectives—to form a centre for reference information and study on the North American Arctic, to encourage arctic scientific research in any field, and to disseminate arctic information by means of a journal, other publications, and lectures.

scholarly journals Approaching Freshet beneath Landfast Ice in Kugmallit Bay on the Canadian Arctic Shelf: Evidence from Sensor and Ground Truth Data

ARCTIC ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony R. Walker ◽  
Jon Grant ◽  
Peter Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ground Truth Data ◽  
The North ◽  
Landfast Ice ◽  
North American Arctic ◽  
Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River is the largest river in the North American Arctic. Its huge freshwater and sediment load impacts the Canadian Beaufort Shelf, transporting large quantities of sediment and associated organic carbon into the Arctic Ocean. The majority of this sediment transport occurs during the freshet peak flow season (May to June). Mackenzie River-Arctic Ocean coupling has been widely studied during open water seasons, but has rarely been investigated in shallow water under landfast ice in Kugmallit Bay with field-based surveys, except for those using remote sensing. We observed and measured sedimentation rates (51 g m-2 d-1) and the concentrations of chlorophyll a (mean 2.2 ?g L-1) and suspended particulate matter (8.5 mg L-1) and determined the sediment characteristics during early spring, before the breakup of landfast ice in Kugmallit Bay. We then compared these results with comparable data collected from the same site the previous summer. Comparison of organic quality in seston and trapped material demonstrated substantial seasonal differences. The subtle changes in biological and oceanographic variables beneath landfast ice that we measured using sensors and field sampling techniques suggest the onset of a spring melt occurring hundreds of kilometres farther south in the Mackenzie Basin.

scholarly journals The Arctic Five: search for a balance of power in the region

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-287
Author(s):  
I. S. Doroshenko
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
The Development Strategy ◽  
Northern Territories ◽  
The Arctic Region

Due to climate change, the Arctic region becomes a place of geopolitical rivalry of both Arctic and non-Arctic states. Traditional formats for determining the agenda in the region are effective, but with the advent of the interest of an increasing number of international actors, these formats are transforming, which may affect the balance of power in the region. The growing activity of Asian countries in the Arctic, primarily China, is forcing regional states to make adjustments to the development strategy of the region. The rapid renewal of its potential in the northern territories of Russia caused a negative reaction from the western countries, especially after 2014.Such aspirations have emerged as the internationalization of the region by Northern Europe and China, the desire to draw clear boundaries on the part of Russia and Canada, and the buildup of US influence on its colleagues in the North Atlantic bloc. This situation may cause an uncontrolled increase in tension in the region, especially if new alliances between the Arctic and non-Arctic countries are created. The author considers the current approaches of the countries of the Arctic five, analyzes the true motives of internationalization and the role of the format of the Arctic five in maintaining a balance of power and stability in the northern latitudes.

scholarly journals Natural Resource Economy and Territorial Organization of the Economy of the Arctic and the North of Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
V. N. Lazhentsev
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Natural Factor ◽  
The North ◽  
World Markets ◽  
Territorial Organization ◽  
Northern Territories ◽  
Resource Economy

The article shows that the modernization of existing and the creation of new industries in the developed territories, their infrastructure development is a priority in the development of the productive forces of the North, including the Arctic. Optimism about the Arctic vector of development, according to the author, should be moderate. The main directions of modernization of the existing economic systems are considered. These areas are associated with the forms of placement of production and settlement of the population in the form of territorial and economic complexes, geographically and economically remote industrial centers and the periphery of the predominantly rural type. Attention is focused on the rise of the role of the natural factor in the socio-economic development of the Arctic and Northern territories and the need for interregional integration in solving the problems of environmental protection. The solution of the problems of the Arctic and the North is connected with the improvement of relations in the system of economic federalism. The main point here is the coordination of public, state and corporate interests for the sake of improving the standard of living of the rooted population, providing the national and world markets with raw materials.

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