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Dorset people

The name given to ancient tribes associated with archaeological excavations at Cap Dorset, Nunavut.

This culture arrived during a brief chilling period about 3,000 years ago. The Dorset People hunted marine mammals and infrequently the land mammals favoured by their ancestors. Longer and colder winter seasons and the presence of more frequently occurring ice barriers encouraged the Dorset People to find new resources.

The subsequent warming period between the years 500 and 1,000 sounded the end for these people. The ice sheet stopped spreading, ice barriers diminished, the migration of marine mammals changed and the Dorset People did not seem prepared for these changes. We note more archaeological finds concerning these tribes dating from around the years 1,200 to 1,500 in our era. The Dorset People refined new technologies, such as the snow knife and sled runners made of whale bone to help in hunts on the ice. And for their comfort, they also refined oil lamps.

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Introduction	Thule people	Ladder of time
Dorset people	Dorset people	Paleoindian people

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