The Archaeology of Old Nuulliit

Book excerpt: The Danish polar explorer Count Eigil Knuth succeeded in finding a Palaeo-Eskimo settlement named "Old Nuulliit" on the well-known Nuulliit site in the Thule area of Greenland. This site was settled by the first immigrants to Greenland: a hitherto unknown culture group, "the Old Nuulliit Culture," which was closely related to Palaeo-Eskimo culture groups in Alaska. Unfortunately, Knuth never published his findings, which became a mystery in Arctic archaeology. New investigations by author Mikkel Srensen shows that the site was settled repeatedly by the first immigrants, between 2500 BC and 1900 BC, and, in addition, that a total of ten family groups of the Pre-Dorset culture had settled there - the first real settlement of the Pre-Dorset culture in Greenland. The discoveries underscore the cultural and historical diversity of the Thule area, which are documented in this book by Sorensen.