Butler 2011 Exploring Soilscapes and Places Inside Labradoe Inuit Winter Dwellings PDF

Exploring Soilscapes and Places Inside Labrador
Inuit Winter Dwellings

Don. H. Butler
Rsum. Les peuples inuits ont influenc de

mille faons le paysage du Nord Labrador.
Cette tude explore leur effet sur la composition lmentaire des sols sous leurs quartiers
dhiver dans trois colonies de peuplement.
Les objectifs de ce travail taient dlargir
lventail des lments denrichissement
trouvs dans les sols associs aux habitations
des Inuits et dexaminer les variations dans
ces enrichissements, pour arriver se reprsenter comment ceux-ci utilisaient lespace
intrieur de leurs habitations. Six de celles-ci
ont t testes par chantillonnage stratifi

systmatique. Des analyses multi-lments
par fluorescence X et par spectromtrie
de masse couple un plasma induit ont
dcouvert dimportantes concentrations
de phosphore, soufre, baryum, plomb,
hafnium, csium, lanthanum et europium
dans les chantillons pdologiques des sites
archologiques par comparaison ceux tirs
des sols environnants. Ces enrichissements
sont lis lutilisation de lhuile des mammifres marins comme source dclairage,
lemploi de baleines dans la construction
des surfaces de couchage, ainsi que de
matriaux de construction recycls et de
produits venus dEurope. Les variations dans
la concentration des lments selon les habitations indiquent que ltude culturelle des
profils pdologiques peut aider identifier
les processus de stabilit et de changement
dans lutilisation de lespace intrieur des
habitations.
n the past, a northern huntergatherers way of life, both generally

and materially speaking, involved building and maintaining seasonal dwellings,
making stone, bone, hide, and wooden
tools, preparing food, storing procured
goods, and disposing of refuse. People
undertook these tasks on a daily basis
and some, for material, social, and/or
ideological reasons, preferred to do so
in specific spaces (Oswald 1984:299).
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary,

2500 University Drive, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
[dhbutler@ucalgary.ca]
Canadian Journal of Archaeology/Journal Canadien dArchologie 35: 5585 (2011)
Article
Abstract. Inuit people have interacted with

northern Labradors landscape in countless
ways. This research explored their influence
on the element compositions of soils beneath
winter dwellings at three settlements. The
objectives were to expand the range of
element enrichments associated with Inuit
dwellings and to consider variations within
these enrichments, thereby contributing to
reconstructions of how these people used
indoor spaces. Six dwellings were sampled
using a stratified systematic strategy. Multielement analyses using x-ray fluorescence and
inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy
identified higher concentrations of phosphorus, sulphur, barium, lead, hafnium, caesium,
lanthanum, and europium in archaeological
samples relative to background samples.
These enrichments relate to peoples use of
sea mammal oil as lamp fuel, of baleen in sleeping platform construction, of recycled materials for building, and of European goods.
Variations in element concentrations between
dwellings indicate that cultural soilscapes have
potential for identifying processes of stability
and change in the use of interior places.
56 BUTLER
Archaeological expressions of these

preferences include spatial structuring
in artifactual and faunal debris, in architectural features, and in other various
facilities (Binford 1983:144). Many daily
activities also introduce liquid, particulate, and gaseous by-products into soils
and sediments that can alter the development of the element compositions of
these deposits. Spatially patterned element concentrations in archaeological
deposits, in turn, are a function of rhythmic, spatially structured and structuring
human activities, and they represent
peoples various interactions both within
and with places (Hodder and Cessford
2004; Wells 2006).
Early studies of archaeological soil/
sediment chemistry in Canada were
carried out on Huron First Nations
settlements in Ontario. Cruickshank and
Heidenreich (1969), at the Cahiague
Village site, recognized anomalous
concentrations of iron and aluminum
sesquioxides in midden deposits. At
the Robitaille site, Heidenreichetal.
(1969), Heidenreichetal. (1971),
and Heidenreich and Konrad (1973)
defined the locations and dimensions of
longhouse, hearth, and midden features
using concentrations of phosphorus,
calcium, and magnesium. Close to a
decade later, Griffith (1980, 1981) revisited Huron based research in Ontario,
specifically at the Benson site, where he
discovered magnesium, calcium, potassium, and phosphorus enrichments in
both midden and dwelling contexts.
Similar studies were undertaken on
First Nations sites in western Canada.
Sawbridge and Bell (1972) discovered
enriched concentrations of phosphorus
and calcium in several Kwakiutl shell
middens along the coastal islands of
British Colombia. Dormaar and Beaudoin (1991), also focusing on refuse
Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)
disposal, argued that phosphorus

enrichments were useful for defining
the spatial extent of bone beds at the
Calderwood Buffalo Jump in southern
Alberta. Taking a household oriented
approach, Middleton and Price (1996)
identified the spatial organization of
features and activities inside a pit-house
at the Keatley Creek site in British
Columbia. In this case, concentrations
of phosphorus, potassium, and calcium
in the center of the floor were associated
with a hearth and adjacent food storage
and preparation areas. High levels of
aluminum, iron, and magnesium along
the southeast floor perimeter could
have represented an accumulation of
lithic micro-debitage related to tool
manufacturing and maintenance. The
sleeping area had low concentrations of
phosphorus and calcium that indicated
a lack of inputs relating to foodways, in
turn signifying that a type of bedding
covered the area.
Studies using archaeological soil/
sediment chemistry in northern Canada
are limited. N. McCartneys (1979) study
of Inuit (Thule) dwellings at the Silimiut
and Kamarvik sites on the northwest
coast of Hudson Bay, Nunavut was the
first undertaken in the Canadian Arctic.
She argued that the long-term deposition
of organic residues derived from subsistence activities caused enhancements
in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations across the soil sub-floors of winter
houses. Derryetal.s (1999) research at
Arnaqquaksaat, an Inuit (Thule) site on
Igloolik Island in the Foxe Basin, also
indicated that the long-term deposition of anthropogenic organic wastes
contributed to the high nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium concentrations
observed in sediments adjacent to winter
dwellings. Farther south in the Caniapiscau Region of northern Quebec,
EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 57
Moore and Denton (1988) recognized

a linear pattern of phosphorus, calcium,
and magnesium enrichments on a First
Nations site, which they interpreted as
an axial hearth.
This paper presents the results of
x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma mass-spectroscopy
(ICP-MS) analyses undertaken on soil
samples (N=34) from the Komaktorvik1
(IhCw1), Nachvak Village (IgCx3),
and Iglosiatik 1 (HbCh1) Inuit sites in
northern Labrador (Figure1). Together,
the six winter dwellings sampled in this
study represent three archaeologically
defined periods of Labrador Inuit history: the early fifteenth to late seventeenth century A.D., the eighteenth
century A.D., and the nineteenth to
early twentieth century A.D. The objectives of this study are to expand and
discuss the array of element enrichments
associated with Inuit winter dwellings,
which will strengthen reconstructions
of how indoor space was defined and
used. Enrichment factors are used to
identify elevated element concentrations
in dwelling soils relative to background
samples, while one-way between-groups
analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used
to identify discrepancies in element
means between dwellings and between
sites. Variations in element compositions between dwellings occupied during
specific periods of Inuit history support
the argument that cultural soilscapes are
useful archaeological indicators of stability and change in the use of internal,
nested places over time.
Field Methods and Sampling Contexts
Pedological Contexts
Iglosiatik Island is in Labradors Coastal
Barrens, which encompasses sheltered
inlets and islands between Napaktok
Bay and the Strait of Belle Isle. Nachvak

Fiord and Komaktorvik Fiord are in the
Low Arctic Torngat ecoregion north of
the Napaktok Bay tree-line (Bell 2002;
Figure1). Low mean annual temperatures in the Coastal Barrens and Low
Arctic Torngats, -3C and -6C respectively, are a function of sea ice, the Labrador Current, and cold winds caused by
the Icelandic Low Pressure System (Bell
2002; Woollett 2003:85, 92). As a result,
vegetation is sparse, consisting mainly
of dwarf willow and birch, alpine heath,
sedges, and lichens. Short growing seasons and sparse vegetation indicate that
local soils would typically have relatively
low organic content.
Low mean annual temperatures
have also slowed soil forming processes
in both ecoregions. Considering the
parent gneisses and schists of the study
areas, sampled soils are likely abundant
in calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron,
aluminum, silica, and potassium. The
soils studied here formed at locations
close to sea level. Soil systems at each
site belong to the cryosolic order. They
have mineral and organic horizons,
permafrost layers or patches between
one and two meters below the surface,
and mixed, disrupted, and/or broken
horizons resulting from cryoturbation.
Deposits are seasonally frozen, which
reduces hydrolysis, eluviation, leaching,
and other chemical and biological processes (Fitzhugh 1980:601; Tedrow and
Harries 1960:246). Generally, deposits
have moderate to poor drainage, owing
to high water tables and permafrost.
The sampled deposits are clay loams,
a texture that assists the adsorption
and complexation of elements introduced through human activities (Wells
2004:71). Cryoturbation, however, likely
has adverse effects on the preservation
of anthropogenic inputs.
Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)
58 BUTLER
65, 0, 0 W
55, 0, 0 W
60, 0, 0 W
McLelan Strait
60, 0, 0 N
Ho Isalnds
Home
Ungava Bay
Seven Islands Bay; Komaktorvik

r 1
Nachvak Fiord; Nachvak Village
Hebron
Napaktok Bay
Okak
Nain
Iglosiatik Island; Iglosiatik 1
55, 0, 0 N
Quebec
Labrador
Hopedale
o
Labrador Sea
Hamilton Inlet
Strait of Belle Isle
300 km
Figure 1. Map of Labrador showing the locations of the sites.
Sampling Strategy
Using an Oakfield stainless steel corer,
samples were collected from dwelling
floors, sleeping platforms, lamp areas,
entrance tunnels, and wall berms. The
barrel of the corer is 46 cm long with
a diameter of 1.3 cm. Several samples
were collected from each context, along
a transect when possible, and analyzed
as representative composites. The
flagstones that pave the floors of the
dwellings often interrupted the corer.
Floor samples were cored from above
and between the flagstones. The top five
to ten centimeters of each soil column
was discarded to avoid testing the highly
chemically active modern O horizon.
The corer was washed with distilled water
between each feature to avoid crosscontamination.
Background samples were collected
near each site from areas that appeared
unaltered by extensive human and
animal activity and that had similar
colours, textures, and depths below surface as the archaeological samples (Stein
2001:21). Six composite background
samples, two for each site, were collected. All samples were collected in resealable plastic bags and stored in a dry,
cool, dark place to avoid contamination
(Paetz and Wilke 2005:28). Some contexts did not have equal representation
in this study. Most houses at the tested
sites did not have discernable lamp
areas, and wall berm deposits were often
too stony to sample. Only one dwelling
representing the eighteenth century and
one representing the nineteenth/early
twentieth century were identified at the
study sites.
Sampling Contexts
Archaeological data, historic documents,
and place names indicate that the ancestors of the Labrador Inuit boated from
the southeast coast of Baffin Island to

northern Labrador in the fifteenth
century (Fitzhugh 1977:31, 38; Fossett
2001:57). Pioneers established settlements at McLelan Strait, the Home
Islands, Komaktorvik Fiord, and Nachvak Fiord, which are near either the
winter sina (ice edge) or year-round
open water (Fitzhugh 1980:601). These
places, and others occupied between the
fifteenth and late seventeenth centuries,
provided seasonal access to interior and
coastal resources (Brice-Bennett 1977;
Taylor 1974).
Komaktorvik 1 is located in such a
strategic place (Figures1, 2, and 3).
Inuit people occupied this area several times between the early fifteenth
and early twentieth centuries (Kaplan
1980:648, 1983:710, 741). Three periods
of Inuit occupation are visible based
on recovered material culture and the
architectural styles of the settlements
13 winter dwellings: the early fifteenth to
late seventeenth century, the eighteenth
century, and the nineteenth to early
twentieth century (Fitzhugh 1977:31,
38). The architectural form of Labrador
Inuit winter dwellings remained consistent between the early fifteenth and late
seventeenth centuries (Kaplan 1985).
Houses were semi-subterranean, typically ovoid to sub-rectangular in shape,
and they had rock and sod wall berms
and whale bone, sod, and snow superstructures. Most had interior areas ranging between 12 and 20 m2. They had rear
sleeping platforms that bisected their
interiors. Lamps were typically placed
atop stands on floor areas near the
corner edges of the platforms. Entrance
tunnels were long, narrow, and typically
deeper than house floors to create a
cold-trap. Some dwellings had two or
three rooms (Schledermann 1971:68;
Woollett 2003:49).
60 BUTLER
Figure 2. Komaktorvik.
16
0.5
0.5
0.5
Geochemical
Background
Sample x
0.5
Low
Tide
Labrador Sea
House 9
Pond
Marsh
House11
Geochemical
Background
Sample x
House 1
River
Stream
Figure 3. Komaktorvik 1 site plan.
30 m
Komaktorvik 1
House Berm
House 9 at Komaktorvik 1 is a clear

example of an early winter dwelling (Figure4). Its interior measures
approximately 15 m 2, about 8 m 2 of
which is occupied by its rear sleeping platform. A group of raised, flat
stones and a relative abundance of
charred materials in extracted soil
columns define a lamp area adjacent
to the southwest corner of the sleeping
platform. The dwellings ovoid form,
interior area, single rear platform, and
the respective presence and absence
of ground stone tools and European
goods in test units indicate an early
occupation. Samples were cored from
the floor, sleeping platform, lamp area,
entrance tunnel, and wall berm.
Nachvak Village was settled primarily between A.D. 1450 and 1700
(Kaplan 1980:64; Figures1 and 5).
The site has 15 houses similar to the

early period winter houses at Komaktorvik 1 (Figure6). House 4 is a good
example, having a 16 m 2 ovoid, semisubterranean form with a well-defined,
flagstone-paved floor, a rear sleeping
platform measuring 7 m2, and a lamp
area adjacent to the southwest corner
of the platform (Figure7). The tunnel
is not well defined, though it appears
to open toward the southeast. A large
assemblage of slate and nephrite blades
and nephrite drill bits along with an
absence of European materials indicate
an early occupation. Composite samples
were taken from the platform, lamp
area, and floor.
Inuit pioneers began advancing south
by the beginning of the sixteenth century (Taylor 1984:508). They progressed
rapidly, arriving at Basque whaling sta-
Figure 4. Komaktorvik 1, House 9.
62 BUTLER
Figure 5. Nachvak Village.
tions along the Strait of Belle Isle by the

mid sixteenth century (Taylor 1984:510;
Whitridge 2008:297). Iglosiatik 1, a
winter site on Iglosiatik Island in outer
Voiseys Bay, was occupied during this
period of southern exploration (Figures1 and 8). The settlement consists
of 16 semi-subterranean sod dwellings
primarily built into an arc-shaped terrace (Figure9). Numerous ground slate
blades, nephrite drill bits, and cut mica
sheets in several test units, along with an
absence of ceramics, glass, and metals,
indicate a primary occupation dating
between the early sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries.
Houses 2 and 12 were sampled.
House 2 is similar in size, shape, and
interior layout to the early dwellings
identified at Komaktorvik 1 and Nachvak Village (Figure10). Samples were
collected from several locations across
the floor, sleeping platform, lamp area,
Figure 6. Nachvak Village site plan.
Figure 7. Nachvak Village, House 4.
Figure 8. Iglosiatik 1.
64 BUTLER
Geochemical
Background
Samples 40 m
Spruce Tuckamore
House 12
12
11
Borrow Pits
10
10
9
8
9
10
House 2
Willow Patch
Marsh
Stream
10
11
Pond
10 m
Figure 9. Iglosiatik 1 site plan.
Figure 10. Iglosiatik 1, House 2.
Figure 11. Iglosiatik 1, House 12.
Iglosiatik 1
House Berm
tunnel, and wall berm. House 12 has two

rooms, a design also used by early Labrador Inuit builders (Kaplan 1985:49;
Figure11). Samples were taken from
the floors and sleeping platforms of both
rooms and from the entrance tunnel.
The eighteenth century was a period
of significant change for many Labrador
Inuit. People continued living in older,
more northerly villages, but they also
established new settlements at Hebron
and Okak, where they could exploit
a greater diversity of terrestrial and
maritime resources than in the past
(Taylor 1984:517; Woollett 2003:52).
They rapidly expanded across the entire
coast and its adjacent hinterland. More
frequent interactions with Europeans
and a growing interest in their commodities contributed to the development of
an Inuit middleman trading economy
(Taylor 1984:508). This economic shift
coincided with the development of large
multi-family houses (Woollett 1999).
The development of these houses might
reflect cooperative economic strategies,
but it could also represent the urgency
of maintaining social cohesiveness and
identity among the increasing presence
of European and even Inuit (i.e.,catholic converts) strangers (Kaplan and
Woollett 2000:357).
Eighteenth century dwellings were
semi-subterranean, and they had rectangular or sub-rectangular shapes,
internal areas ranging between 40 m2
and 125 m 2 , multiple sleeping platforms and lamp areas, and cold-trap
entrance passages (Woollett 2003:57).
Whale elements were sparse in house
construction during this period, representing a decline in the socioeconomic
and ideological importance of whaling
(Schledermann 1971:111). House 11
at Komaktorvik 1 is a useful example of
an eighteenth century Labrador Inuit
winter dwelling. It has a sub-rectangular

shape, an interior area of roughly 50 m2,
and sleeping platforms along three of
its four walls, each measuring approximately 8 m2 (Figure12). Several samples
were cored from the floor, each platform, and the entrance tunnel.
Faunal assemblages from nineteenth
century sites indicate a shift in economy
from sea mammal hunting toward caribou hunting, fishing, and fur bearing
animal trapping (Kaplan 1980:654).
Inland caribou hunting during the late
winter and early spring, aided by the
acquisition of firearms, increased in popularity throughout the century. People
built smaller houses with single rear
sleeping platforms, settlements became
more dispersed, and southerly settlements became larger. One family typically occupied a house, possibly because
of Moravian religious influence or a
decrease in cooperative economic strategies. Representatives of the Hudson
Bay Company influenced the intensification of a trapping economy, which is
apparent in archaeological assemblages
from Komaktorvik 1 (Kaplan 1980:652).
The contents of test units associated
with House 1 at Komaktorvik 1, such as
banded annular wares, purple transfer
printed wares, and iron trapping equipment, indicate a nineteenth century
occupation. Samples were collected
from the floor, lamp area, sleeping platform, tunnel, and wall berm (Figure13).
Laboratory and Statistical Analyses
Sample Preparation
Samples were stored in a dark refrigerator prior to preparation and analyses.
Both XRF and ICP-MS require powdered
samples. A Plexiglas chamber fitted
with an air circulation and HEPA filtration unit facilitated air-drying. Macro
66 BUTLER
organic matter and large sediments were

removed. The soils were disaggregated
using a porcelain pestle and mortar.
Screening samples through a 2mm plastic mesh separated the fine fraction. A
tungsten carbide ring and puck crusher
pulverized these fine fractions into powders (Longerich 1995). Equipment was
sterilized using silica sand, ethanol and
distilled water between samples to avoid
cross-contamination.
Applied Research Laboratories 8420+

sequential wavelength-dispersive x-ray
spectrometer identified concentrations
(parts per million PPM) of the following
elements: sulphur (S), chlorine (Cl),
titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), chromium
(Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc
(Zn), gallium (Ga), and niobium (Nb).
Oxides of sodium (Na), magnesium
(Mg), calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn),
iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), phosphorus
(P), and potassium (K) were measured
in weight percentage and are considered
semi-quantitative. The instrument was
standardized using repeated measurements of certified geological and sediment reference materials (e.g., DTS1,
BHVO1, SO2, PACS1) provided by
the Canadian Certified Reference Materials Project, the United States Geological Survey, and the Japanese Geological
Survey. Experimental values were compared with internationally accepted
values provided by Govindaraju (1989).
X-Ray Fluorescence
X-ray fluorescence is a cost effective,
easily accessible means of rapidly and
simultaneously identifying several major
and minor elements in crystalline materials, including archaeological soils and
sediments (Garrison 2003:216). Five
grams of each powdered sample were
mixed with .7 g of phenolic resin, pressed
into a pellet using 20 ton/in2 of pressure
for 10 seconds, and baked at 200C for
15 minutes (Longerich 1995). A Fisons/
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry is a rapid means of simultaneously quantifying up to 70 elements
(Garrison 2003:229). It is also among the
most accurate methods for identifying
trace elements, such as the rare earths,
because of its low detection limits (Date
and Jarvis 1989:51, 53; Entwistle and
Abrahams 1997:407). Aggressive acids
were used to digest powdered samples
into liquids, which is beneficial in archaeological research because a significant
quantity of the anthropogenic elemental
signal exists within the more resistant soil
fractions (Wilsonetal. 2008:414). Five
hundred milligrams of each powdered
sample were mixed with a two to three
millilitre solution of concentrated 8N
nitric (HNO3) and hydrofluoric acids
(HF) in Savillex teflon screw cap jars. Jars
were capped and placed on a hotplate at
approximately 100C until the solids completely dissolved, which typically takes
between 24 and 48 hours (Jenneretal.
1990; Longerichetal. 1990). Nitric acid
is the most widely used digestion reagent
because of its highly oxidizing properties,
meaning it easily dissolves trace elements
in most minerals. The HF was combined
with HNO3 to complete the dissolution
of metals. Additionally, HF is the only
acid that will easily dissolve silica based
minerals. This method produced a more
completely dissolved solution without
destroying trace elements (Jarvisetal.
1992:174, 177, 192). Once dissolution
and evaporation were complete, samples
were mixed with a two to three millilitre
solution of 8N nitric acid and diluted
with Nanopure prepared water to a
weight of 90 g. A one millilitre aliquot
underwent analysis (Jenneretal. 1990;
Longerichetal. 1990).
A HP 4500+ quadrupole ICP-MS
instrument identified concentrations
(PPM) of the rare earth elements scandium (Sc), yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La),
cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium
(Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho),
erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium
(Yb), and lutetium (Lu). Analyses also
identified concentrations of lithium
(Li), rubidium (Rb), barium (Ba),
strontium (Sr), zirconium (Zr), lead
(Pb), caesium (Cs), molybdenum (Mo),
cadmium (Cd), hafnium (Hf), tantalum
(Ta), and thorium (Th). The instrument was standardized using repeated
measurements of the certified reference
materials identified above. Reagent
blanks were also tested to identify their
contributions to the samples.
Enrichment Factors and Analysis of
Variance
The enrichment factor is a straightforward approach to identifying and
comparing geochemical background
averages to archaeological samples
(Cooketal. 2006:632). It provides a
useful alternative when datasets are
small and lack the statistical parameters
required by more complex multi-variate
approaches. Dividing on-site concentrations by their respective off-site means
provided an enrichment factor for each
element in each sample. For each element, the background sample mean
plus two standard deviations divided
by the background mean defined
the minimum significant enrichment
value. Enrichment factors greater than
minimum significant enrichment values
indicated significant on-site increases
(Entwistleetal. 1998:5758). Enrichments in the archaeological samples
were expressed as the percentages to
which their concentrations exceed their
respective background means.
68 BUTLER
One-way between groups analysis

of variance is useful for identifying
statistically significant differences in
mean element concentrations between
archaeological samples and comparative, background samples, or alternatively, differences between samples
from various archaeological contexts
(Wilsonetal. 2008:416). It is a widely
applicable technique, given its modest
statistical prerequisites (i.e., independent observations, normally distributed
variables, and equal group variances;
Rogerson 2001:65). Here, ANOVA was
used to identify variation in element
means between sites and between dwellings occupied during different centuries. The analysis focused on elements
with enriched concentrations in the
archaeological samples (N=28). These
elements were the dependent variables,
while temporal period and site were the
independent, grouping variables. Outliers in these elements can negatively
influence the analyses. Box and whisker plots were used to identify outliers
whereas F-tests were used to accept or
reject the null hypotheses that there was
no variation in element means between
dwellings and no variation between sites.
Quantile-quantile analyses were used
to determine whether the data were
normally distributed by comparing the
observed element distributions to a theoretical normal distribution. Levenes
test identified whether the variances
for the element concentrations were
homogenous. Tukey and Games-Howell
post-hoc tests identified whether element means differ in dwellings occupied
during different centuries and whether
means differ between sites (Rogerson
2001:6567). Standardizing the entire
dataset using a base 10 logarithm with
an added constant of one was necessary
because several elements were measured
as weight percents, while others were

measured in PPM (Shennan 1997:299;
Tabachnick and Fidell 2001:3540).
Adding a constant of one was necessary
to avoid the production of negative numbers. Analyses were undertaken using
the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 16.0.
Results
Identified Enrichments and Analysis of
Variance
Repeated measurements of certified
reference materials and comparisons
with internationally accepted values
show a negligible amount of error.
Concentrations of most tested elements were far above each instruments
detection limit. Contributions from the
digestion reagent did not influence the
ICP-MS analyses. Of the 46 elements
explored, P, S, Ba, Pb, Cs, Hf, La, and
Eu have enrichments in most sampled
contexts (Tables 1 and 2). This is fewer
elements than expected, a product of
using only two background samples
from each site. The standard deviations
of many elements in these samples are
large, thereby inflating minimum significant enrichment values. Nonetheless,
enrichments in all of these elements,
excluding P, are the first documented
on northern hunter-gatherer sites in
general and on Inuit sites in particular.
The elements P, S, and Cs have enrichments throughout all of the features in
the sampled dwellings. Elevated concentrations of La, Eu, and Hf appear
only in the fifteenth to late seventeenth
century dwellings. Lanthanum and Eu
enrichments mainly occur in the sleeping platforms of these dwellings. The
elements Ba and Pb have enrichments
primarily in the eighteenth and nineteenth century dwellings.

Table 1. Selected element concentrations from three Labrador Inuit sites.
Site
Context
P*
Iglosiatik
Background 1
Background 2
House 2 Floor
House 2 Platform
House 2 Lamp
House 2 Tunnel
House 2 Wall Berm
Background 1
Background 2
House 4 Floor
House 4 Platform
House 4 Lamp
Background 1
Background 2
House 9 Floor
House 9 Platform
House 9 Lamp
House 9 Tunnel
House 9 Wall Berm
.13
.18
.19
.16
.18
.21
.26
.18
.16
.50
.40
.33
.11
.11
.61
.47
.47
.29
.38
262
336
319
595
455
1071
1401
357
497
5375
8000
7000
326
469
3860
1321
2242
1125
1058
Nachvak
Komaktorvik
Ba
1553.92
1145.97
1585.05
1512.27
1547.22
1452.39
1325.01
769.00
571.09
1064.00
928.00
892.00
407.20
440.02
448.55
483.45
439.62
546.54
455.96
Pb
Cs
Hf
18.144
16.760
17.806
16.870
16.416
15.895
15.758
7.850
8.865
5.489
10.258
18.941
6.279
6.728
6.809
7.469
7.539
8.217
7.289
.353
.323
.478
.434
.437
.444
.411
.248
.170
.082
.267
.320
.114
.111
.140
.148
.250
.161
.124
.00
.864
1.267
1.562
1.996
1.359
2.174
.635
.617
.407
1.768
.986
1.490
1.183
.952
1.151
.889
.695
.919
La
19.895
20.330
21.629
22.672
21.890
31.771
18.543
33.007
15.960
22.884
29.142
35.892
14.487
17.113
16.729
16.758
15.209
16.813
16.587
Eu
1.423
1.459
1.550
1.578
1.524
1.566
1.357
.675
.827
.489
1.132
.886
.544
.849
.718
.756
.809
.823
.756
*Element concentrations are reported in PPM, except for P, which is reported as weight percent.
The ANOVA results highlight some

differences in mean element concentrations between the three temporally
defined dwelling groups. The few identified outliers, like S concentrations in
the platform and lamp samples from
House4, are adjusted to values slightly
higher than the greatest non-outlier
value (Pallant 2005:178). Quantilequantile analyses indicate that Ba, Pb,
and Cs, are not normally distributed.
Levenes test demonstrates that the
majority of the elements have heterogeneous variances. Based on these results,
the Games-Howell post hoc test provides
a more robust analysis of disparities
between group means, thereby reducing the likelihood of rejecting the null
hypothesis when it should be accepted.
However, spatial dependence in the
samples could have increased the likelihood of making this error. Barium and
Cs have significant F-values, but they

are not considered reliable because of
their skewed distributions. The F-values
for La, Eu, and Hf are significant
and they exceed the critical F-value
(critical F=3.39; df=2, 25; p.05).
Lanthanum has higher means in the
fifteenth-late seventeenth century dwellings and lower means in both following periods (F=4.17; df=2, 25; p=.27).
Europium follows the same pattern,
having higher means in early period
dwellings relative to those in later dwellings (F=4.06; df=2, 25; p=.30). As with
La and Eu, Hf has higher means in
the fifteenth-late seventeenth century
dwellings relative to the eighteenth and
nineteenth to early twentieth century
dwellings (F=3.43; df=2, 25; p=.050).
Another analysis of variance using the
same eight elements as dependent
variables and site as the independent
70 BUTLER
Table 2. Significant element enrichments in six Labrador Inuit winter dwellings expressed as
percent increases exceeding background means.
Context
Sample Location and Element Enrichment Percent
House 9
Floor
Platform
Lamp
Tunnel
Wall Berm
Komaktorvik
15th17th century
Eu (3%)
La (6%)
Cs (25%)
P (454%)
S (871%)
Eu (9%)
La (6%)
Cs (32%)
S (232%)
P (327%)
Eu (16%)
Cs (122%)
P (327%)
S (464%)
La (6%)
Eu (18%)
Pb (26%)
Cs (43%)
P (163%)
S (183%)
La (5%)
Eu (9%)
Cs (10%)
S (166%)
P (245%)
House 4
Floor
Platform
Lamp
Nachvak
15th17th century
Ba (59%)
P (194%)
S (1158%)
La (20%)
Pb (23%)
Cs (28%)
Ba (39%)
Eu (51%)
P (135%)
Hf (182%)
S (1773%)
Ba (33%)
La (47%)
Hf (58%)
P (94%)
Cs (53%)
Pb (127%)
S (1539%)
House 2
Floor
Platform
Lamp
Tunnel
Wall Berm
Iglosiatik
15th17th century
Eu (8%)
P (23%)
Cs (41%)
Hf (193%)
Eu (10%)
La (13%)
Cs (28%)
S (99%)
Hf (261%)
Eu (6%)
P (23%)
Cs (29%)
S (52%)
Hf (362%)
Eu (8%)
Cs (31%)
P (35%)
La (58%)
Hf (215%)
S (258%)
Cs (22%)
P (68%)
S (368%)
Hf (403%)
House 12
East Floor
West Floor
East Platform
West Platform
Tunnel
Iglosiatik
15th17th century
Cs (27%)
P (55%)
S (87%)
Hf (253%)
Cs (21%)
P (55%)
S (108%)
Hf (189%)
Eu (5%)
Cs (23%)
S (36%)
Hf (400%)
Eu (5%)
Cs (33%)
S (50%)
P (55%)
Hf (178%)
Cs (33%)
P (35%)
S (137%)
Hf (201%)
House 11
Floor
West Platform
South Platform
North Platform
Tunnel
Komaktorvik
18th century
Ba (8%)
Pb (11%)
S (57%)
P (100%)
Cs (13%)
Pb (22%)
S (40%)
P (100%)
Ba (18%)
Pb (23%)
P (118%)
S (122%)
Pb (9%)
Cs (13%)
S (25%)
P (64%)
Ba (18%)
Pb (23%)
Cs (39%)
S (71%)
P (100%)
House 1
Floor
Platform
Lamp
Tunnel
Wall Berm
Komaktorvik
19th20th century
Ba (16%)
Cs (43%)
Pb (101%)
S (526%)
P (600%)
Ba (36%)
Pb (50%)
Cs (112%)
S (157%)
P (363%)
Ba (21%)
Cs (76%)
Pb (241%)
S (414%)
P (754%)
Ba (7%)
Cs (65%)
Pb (80%)
P (227%)
S (277%)
Ba (16%)
Pb (54%)
Cs (67%)
S (283%)
P (410%)
variable highlights considerable differences. All of the F-values are significant

and they exceed the critical value. There
are, however, issues with heteroscedasticity and normality, which a larger
sample size would help address.
Discussion
Element enrichments in the tested
dwellings indicate that archaeological
and background deposits underwent
different soil formation processes. Inuit
habitation influenced three soil forming
factors: topography, inorganic parent
material content, and organic matter
content. Winter dwelling construction
created a depression in which anthropogenic chemical residues could accumulate. Repeated habitation introduced
an abundance of new inorganic and
organic materials into these depressions,
which altered the development of the
underlying deposits element compositions. The discussion presented here
identifies anthropogenic and natural
sources for the enrichments documented in the archaeological contexts.
The data are also discussed using the
concepts of places and soilscapes.
Preucel and Meskell (2004) describe
spaces as Cartesian and Euclidean,
while places are products of the social
process of valuing, attaching memory
to, or giving social meaning to spaces.
Whitridge (2004), however, argues that
this approach to space and place creates
a false dichotomy. Instead, he defines
place as ...the effect of a general movement of thought and practice that imbricates the real and the representational at
complexly layered sites (Whitridge
2004:214). Places are the medium and
outcome of the social interactions and
routine behaviours that occurred and
occur at these layered points (Giddens
1984; Soja 1985).
Interactions among past Labrador

Inuit people occurred on land, sea, and
ice, within dwellings, and throughout
various other places, thereby contracting
social prescriptions and proscriptions
for behaviours and practices specific to
those fields, or what Bourdieu (1990:53)
might refer to as procedures to
follow, paths to take. These people,
like all people, developed spatially structured dispositions through long-term
exposure to specific social, historic, and
physical situations. They used mutual
knowledge, obser vations of other
people, and memories when deciding
how to behave in specific places, or
how to go on within the routines of
social life (Giddens 1984:4). They saw
their families defining places through
their daily actions and interactions, they
heard stories involving their ancestors
doing the same, and they remembered
these experiences. They remembered
their families practicing and expecting
the same interactions, behaviours, and
activities in the same places last week,
last winter, and the previous winters that
compelled them to do the same.
In the past, Labrador Inuit people
returned to the same settlements and
houses each winter, signifying the
importance of these places and their
associated narratives in maintaining
the economic, social, and ideological
persistence of the group (Oetelaar and
Meyer 2006; Whitridge 2004). Winter
houses were cadre matriel, or humanized, meaningful places connecting
past and present people (Halbwachs
1925). They were emotional watersheds that also contained innumerable
overlapping networks of spatial and
social interactions and spatiotemporal
rhythms (Whitridge 2004:232). Winter,
for instance, [was] the social time in
Labrador Inuit society, and houses were
72 BUTLER
nodes of heightened interaction and

activity during these months (Hutton
1904:179). People deliberately and
unintentionally mapped their ideologies, histories, and behaviours onto these
places, establishing them as structured
and structuring mnemonic posts for contextually accepted and expected social
fronts and daily activities (Bourdieu
1990; Giddens 1984; Goffman 1959).
People drew from the potentialities of
the nested places within their dwellings, taking behavioural cues from their
constraining and enabling social and
physical characteristics, their embedded
histories, and the memories they incited
(Connerton 1989; Tilley 1994).
The relationship between memories,
places, and practices is visible in the
archaeological record as reoccurring
spatial patterns of material culture
(Jones 2008). Some tasks are spatially
discrete, and they can introduce specific
types of liquid, particulate, and gaseous
by-products into underlying soils. These
substances modify the elemental chemistry of the deposits, changing them into
cultural soilscapes. Cultural soilscapes
are spatially patterned physicochemical
representations of recursive, spatially
dependent, particularistic behaviours
generally performed by collectives over
periods of either sedentary or repeated
occupation (Wells 2006). They reflect
rhythmic interactions with places, the
experiences and social interactions created by and recreated in these places,
and the histories and memories that
guided daily life through them (Hodder
and Cessford 2004).
Studies of place provide a fruitful
means of mapping temporal changes
in ideologies, social interactions, and
activities (Alcock 2002; Van Dyke 2008).
They also provide insight into the temporal persistence of these phenomena.
Variation between dwelling soilscapes

provides unique data that contribute to
identifying these processes of socio-spatial stability and change in the archaeological record. Despite their geographic
and temporal diversity, along with
changing interactions with Europeans
and shifts in economics and other social
variables throughout Labrador Inuit history, the tested dwellings have soils with
enrichments in some similar elements.
These results support the argument
that there is some degree of temporal
continuity in how Inuit people perceived
and used these places. Some of the
relationships past Labrador Inuit had
with their dwellings, their experiences
and interactions with and within them,
and their perceptions of how people
should go on in these places remained
stable for centuries. Discrepancies in
element enrichments between dwellings
occupied during different periods of
Labrador Inuit history support the argument that some dwelling-based interactions, routines, and ideologies changed
over time. Additional archaeological,
ethnoarchaeological, and experimental
studies will strengthen this link between
place making and cultural soilscapes.
The ANOVA using site as the grouping variable supports the argument that
variation in local soil forming processes
contributed to the observed differences
in element concentrations. Varying concentrations between sites could relate to
natural variation in parent material mineralogy. Each site does have similar geologic parent materials and soil systems,
but differential weathering imposed
upon these parent materials at each site
might have contributed to the observed
differences. Spatial variations in animal
and vegetation activity might have also
contributed to the differences. Additionally, differential inputs and preservation
of compounds and elements could

factor into the incongruities between
periods detected using enrichment
factors and ANOVA. Anthropogenic
element enrichments in earlier houses
may subside over time because they have
been exposed to more natural formation
processes than those in later houses. The
opposite is also true. Higher element
concentrations may exist in later houses
relative to earlier ones because the soil
system has had less time to remove them.
Persisting Lamp Places
Labrador Inuit people commonly lived
in semi-subterranean winter houses
between late fall and early spring
(Kaplan 1985:49). They gathered near
lamps, chopping, cutting, grinding,
mixing, cooking, and distributing food,
warming cold fingers, telling stories,
playing games, teaching and showing,
discussing past, current, and future
events, and crafting various things
(Giffen 1930:15). Lamps fuelled with
sea mammal oil burned throughout
the bitter winter months, constantly
producing soot, smoke, and charred byproducts. These by-products significantly
altered the development of associated
soils, indicated by the greasy, consolidated, and charred appearance of lamp
area deposits.
Phosphorus, S, and Cs have enrichments throughout the interiors of all
the tested dwellings, particularly in
floor and lamp areas. The introduction of burned fats and oils would
cause P enrichments in dwelling soils
(Derryetal. 1999; N.McCartney 1979).
Floor and lamp contexts in House 4 at
Nachvak, for instance, had oil soaked
deposits containing charred fat, and they
had respective P concentrations 194%
and 94% greater than the background
mean. People typically placed lamps
near sleeping platforms, because many

tasks requiring the use of the lamp,
like cooking or using its light to carve a
tool, could be done comfortably while
sitting on the platforms edge (Mathiassen 1927). Consequently, P enrichments might also be found in platform
contexts. House 4 has a 135 percent P
enrichment in its platform context that
relates to the deposition of charred
materials produced by the lamp.
Bone tool production is another
source of P enrichments in platform,
lamp, and floor contexts. Bone tools
such as harpoon heads, sled runners,
snow knives, mattocks, combs, needle
cases, knife handles, and bow drill
handles were frequently manufactured
inside winter dwellings (A. McCartney
1979:306). During the colder, darker
winter months, carving, grinding, and
polishing bone into various objects likely
required the light and warmth provided
by soapstone lamps (Dawsonetal.
2007:19). The accumulation and deposition of bone tool debitage would
certainly alter the development of
underlying deposits. Bone contains
approximately 20 percent P, making it
a common source of P enrichments in
archaeological deposits (Farswan and
Nautiyal 1997:253; Griffith 1981:30).
Houses 9 and 1 at Komaktorvik 1 and
House 4 at Nachvak Village, for example,
have substantial P enrichments in lamp,
floor, and platform contexts that could
relate to the accumulation and deposition of bone particles rendered during
tool production. This argument is supported by the presence of bone tools and
debitage discovered during excavations
at Komaktorvik 1, Nachvak Village, and
Iglosiatik 1.
Sulphur enrichments relate to the
sea mammal oil used to fuel soapstone
lamps. Seals, given their fish-based diet,
74 BUTLER
ingest large amounts of methionine

that is incorporated into their fat (Figge
2007:164). During the combustion of
this organic petroleum, S (l) converts
into SO2(g) via hydrodesulphurization
(Sanchez-Delgado 2002:3; Southwick
1996:55). Liquid and particulate byproducts from lamp use would concentrate in the platform and floor areas
associated with lamps, but SO2(g) and soot
would accumulate throughout dwellings.
Enrichments at the three study sites
support this argument. All of the tested
dwellings have substantial S enrichments. In House 9 at Komaktorvik1, for
instance, the lamp, floor, and platform
have respective S concentrations of 464
percent, 871 percent, and 232 percent
greater than the background mean.
Sulphur enrichments throughout
Houses 11 and 1 at Komaktorvik 1 support the argument that people used sea
mammal oil fuelled lamps throughout
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries despite access to European alternatives. Of course, the continuous use of
wood stoves in Labradors treeless north
would be impractical. People would have
also continued using soapstone lamps
throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for social and ideological reasons. The type of light, smell, and
heat produced by oil burning soapstone
lamps were emotive, mnemonic, and
bound to winter dwelling interiors. The
interactions occurring around lamps,
along with many other indoor and
outdoor places, built and rebuilt social
bonds and contracts, relationships with
place, and ways of being and doing,
thereby contributing to the sociocultural
continuity of the group.
Spatial arrangements of food wastes
are useful for reconstructing the organization of daily life (e.g., Atalay and
Hastorf 2006). Spatial patterns of chemi-
cal residues from food-related activities

are equally useful. Phosphorus, S, and
Cs enrichments across all of the tested
dwellings partially relate to spatiotemporal consistencies in the conjunctive
use of the platform edge and lamp stand
for food preparation and consumption.
Phosphorus enrichments on archaeological sites are commonly associated
with the consistent deposition of liquid
and particulate residues derived from
animal products (Stein 1992:195199).
Inuit people occasionally cooked meat
over lamps using skewers or hooks (Maxwell 1985:264). These cooking activities
would contribute P to the soils underlying lamp stands, floors, and platform
edges. Caesium and S enrichments in
these dwellings might also derive from
the preparation of plant food products
(Entwistleetal. 2000:297).
Given their ubiquity, enrichments in
P, S, and Cs could be useful for identifying the locations of pole-ridge tents.
These elements could also help reconstruct the organization of common tasks
within these and other types of dwellings
that typically lack artifactual, faunal, and
architectural evidence. However, P and
S are naturally abundant in soils (Southwick 1996:54). The decomposition of
local plants also introduces S and Cs into
soils (Entwistleetal. 2000:297).
Experimental lamp burning, cooking, food processing and storage, and
bone tool manufacturing will help clarify
whether these tasks produce liquid,
particulate, and gaseous by-products
rich in P, S, and, Cs. Reference materials analyses undertaken by Wilsonetal.
(2008), for instance, determined that
concentrations of Ca, Ba, Cu, Sr, Zn,
P, and Pb in archaeological deposits
from several abandoned farms in the
United Kingdom derived mainly from
the accumulation of charcoal. An
ethnoarchaeological approach would

also help resolve ambiguities concerning the anthropogenic sources of element enrichments on archaeological
sites. Research at modern Yupik fishing
camps in western Alaska identified P, Mg,
K, and Fe enrichments in both fish processing and drying areas (Knudsonetal.
2004; Knudson and Frink 2010).
Rebuilding and Refuse Disposal
Past Inuit people occupied semi-subterranean dwellings for roughly five months
of the year, during which they produced
a substantial amount of inorganic
and organic refuse. People frequently
removed these wastes through entrance
tunnels as indicated by the large middens typically found adjacent to tunnel
mouths. During spring, warmer temperatures would have compromised the
structural integrity of winter houses.
People likely dismantled their dwellings sometime during spring to avoid
the danger of collapse. This would have
also provided opportunities for more
thorough cleaning. During late fall for
instance, it would have been efficient for
people to salvage construction materials
from previous occupations to rebuild
their winter houses (Habu and Savelle
1994:12; A. McCartney 1979:307). Floor
sediments and extant refuse from the
previous year would have also been
useful for fortifying slumping wall berms.
Phosphorus, S, and Cs enrichments
in tunnels and wall berms are related
to rebuilding and refuse disposal practices. Anthropogenic sources for these
enrichments include tool manufacturing, lamp burning, and food preparation. Refuse from these activities would
have been scuffed across floors, eventually gathered, and removed through
tunnels. Tunnels from all of the tested
dwellings have substantial enrichments
in P, S, and Cs that relate to the periodic removal of refuse through them.

However, dogs often occupied tunnels
(Borlase 1993:90) and therefore the
observed enrichments could derive from
their presence. Sampled wall berms
from Houses 9 and 1 at Komaktorvik1
and from House 2 at Iglosiatik 1 also
have relatively large enrichments in P,
S, and Cs, supporting the argument that
people incorporated sediments and/
or refuse from floors into wall berms
before reoccupation. Wall berms could
have also been built and rebuilt using
well-developed, chemically enriched
sods from nearby Inuit and/or Dorset
dwellings. Lemmings, however, typically burrow into the voids between wall
stones. Their presence likely contributed
to the observed enrichments.
Consistencies in P, S, and Cs enrichments throughout the tested houses,
in lamp placements, in the conjunctive
use of lamps and platforms for various
activities, and in the means by which
houses were cleaned and reoccupied are
archaeological representations of temporal stability in how winter dwelling interiors were perceived, defined, and used.
Recursive, intergenerational uses of internal dwelling places reflect how people
interacted with dwellings as physical,
social, and historic media. These attributes of nested dwelling places generated
collective expectations for appropriate
behaviour, which in turn contributed to
establishing particular dwelling-based
routines. In navigating through daily life,
people constantly defined and redefined
these places as appropriate locations
for particular activities and interactions.
Others witnessed these defining processes and they remembered them when
deciding how to behave in certain places.
These experiences and memories compelled mimetic behaviour.
76 BUTLER
This duality of structure or, in Sojas

(1985) terms, this duality of spatiality points to place as the medium and
outcome of social behaviour. In turn,
structured and structuring behaviours
appear in the archaeological record
as spatial patterning and/or temporal
consistencies in artifacts, faunal remains,
architecture, and soilscapes (Hodder
and Cessford 2004; Wells 2006). Differences in element enrichments between
the dwellings represent a modification
in how their platforms were constructed
and changes in the goods that were
produced and used in dwellings. These
changes represent a shift in place
making. They represent renegotiations
and redefinitions of how people interacted with internal dwelling places, of
the ideologies they imprinted upon
them, and of the routines practiced
within them. Redefinitions of internal
places created new histories, memories,
and ways of going on through daily life
in winter dwellings.
Rare Earths, Platform Bedding, and the
Decline of Whaling
Studies of anthropogenic rare earth
element enrichments in archaeological
soils and sediments have focused on
permanent, agricultural settlements.
Entwistle and Abrahams (1997) and
Entwistleetal.s (1998, 2000) investigations of former farm sites in Scotland
identified rare earth anomalies in cultivated fields that possibly relate to the
use of fertilizers comprised of bone,
marine plants, mollusc shells, and ash.
Cooketal. (2006) suggest that rare
earth enrichments in deposits from a
Late Classic Maya site in Guatemala
might represent accumulations of
human detritus such as teeth, hair, fingernails, and skin. Research in northern
Labrador provides initial evidence for
the presence of enriched rare earths

on seasonally occupied hunter-gatherer
sites. Enrichments in the rare earths La
and Eu were found in sleeping platforms
from early period dwellings and they
relate to the use of bedding woven from
baleen strips. Baleen is comprised of the
protein keratin, which contains the rare
earth elements (Rodushkin and Axelsson 2000).
A widely told Inuit myth recounts
the origin of the winter house. Essentially, a young woman is abducted by a
whale who provides his captive with a
house built from his bones (Whitridge
2004:242). Inuit people functionally and
symbolically incorporated various whale
elements into their dwellings (Levy and
Dawson 2009). They often, for instance,
covered their sleeping platforms with
elaborately woven baleen mats (Mathiassen 1930:598; Maxwell 1985:283). Excavations undertaken by Schledermann
(1971:36, 41) at the Ikkusik site (IdCr2)
on Rose Island in northern Labrador
identified baleen concentrations in
the upper layers of a house context
that likely relate to roof construction.
However, baleen concentrations were
also discovered lower in the deposit
above the sleeping platform. Excavations undertaken during the present
study identified baleen concentrations
in platform contexts from of House 4
at Nachvak Village and from House 9 at
Komaktorvik 1. These concentrations
strengthen the argument that the early
Inuit inhabitants of northern Labrador
used baleen bedding.
Soils from the platforms of House2
at Iglosiatik 1, House 4 at Nachvak Village, and House 9 at Komaktorvik 1
have enriched concentrations of La
and Eu. The platforms of House 12 at
Iglosiatik 1 have enrichments in Eu but
not in La. Baleen is a reasonable source
for the La and Eu enrichments found

in the sleeping platform deposits from
these early dwellings. If these rare earth
enrichments relate to the use of baleen
in platform areas, they might be absent
in dwellings occupied after the decline
of both whaling and the use of whale elements in dwelling construction.
People rarely used whale elements for
building materials during the eighteenth
century (Schledermann 1971:111). It
would follow that they also used baleen
mats less frequently both during and
after this century. Kaplan (1983:248,
353), for instance, discovered that
baleen is absent in nineteenth century
archaeological contexts. European contact and baleen trading developed along
the Labrador coast throughout the
eighteenth century (Kaplan 1980:650,
1983:353). This, along with a decline in
the availability of whales, contributed to
a decline in the use of baleen as a building material. Soil cores from platforms of
the sampled eighteenth and nineteenth
century dwellings, Houses 11 and 1 at
Komaktorvik 1 respectively, did not contain baleen fragments. Lanthanum and
Eu enrichments were also absent in the
platforms of these dwellings. Differences
in La and Eu means between early and
later houses are also supported by the
ANOVA. These results strengthen the
argument that there was a decline in the
use of baleen for bedding. A declining
use of whale elements in dwelling construction would reflect a diminishing
economic, social, and ideological interest in whales among the Labrador Inuit.
A decline in the importance of whale elements for building would have contributed to renegotiations and redefinitions
of how internal dwelling places were
understood and interacted with.
Rare earth enrichments on these
archaeological sites could also derive
from human/animal urine, terrestrial/

marine plants, seawater, and/or fish
bone (Arrheniusetal. 1957; Bettinelli
2002; Braillardetal. 2004; Brookins
1989). Given the proximity of each site
to the Labrador Sea, increases in the
rare earths could represent the natural, differential deposition of marine
plants and/or seawater. Additionally,
the silicate minerals pyroxene, olivine,
plagioclase, and amphibole, which are
the main constituents of the igneous
and metamorphic rocks of Labrador,
can contain all of the stable rare earths
(Laul and Weimer 1982:534). Rare earth
enrichments on Inuit archaeological
sites might represent spatial variability in
each soil systems mineralogical parent
materials. An experimental study comparing the rare earth compositions of
well and poorly preserved archaeological
baleen samples will help clarify whether
the decomposition of this keratinous
material is the source of the rare earth
enrichments discovered within the
sampled platform deposits.
Adopting European Technologies
Some of the observed element anomalies
relate to the adoption of European technologies. Hafnium enrichments occur
exclusively in the sampled fifteenth to
late seventeenth century dwellings, which
is supported by the ANOVA results. The
early Inuit inhabitants of Labrador
ground their points and blades primarily from slate. Slate typically contains
the minerals muscovite, biotite, calcite,
pyrite, and apatite. It can also contain
zircon, a mineral commonly having moderate amounts of Hf (Dempsteretal.
2004). The accumulation and deposition
of debitage created during the manufacturing and maintenance of slate tools
could contribute Hf to underlying soils.
The floor, platform, and lamp areas of
78 BUTLER
House 2 at Iglosiatik, for instance, have

Hf enrichments of 193 percent, 261 percent, and 362 percent respectively. Hafnium is not enriched in the eighteenth
and nineteenth century dwellings that
were sampled. Elemental analysis of slate
from the tested sites will help assess the
validity of this interpretation.
Between the middle and late eighteenth century, Labrador Inuit hunters
began using firearms (Taylor 1984).
The introduction of this technology,
along with other metal goods, contributed to a decline in the production and
use of ground slate tools, which could
explain the absence of Hf enrichments
in the tested eighteenth and nineteenth
century dwellings. Moreover, lead and
Ba enrichments primarily appear in
the eighteenth and nineteenth century dwellings. The 101 percent Pb
enrichment in the floor of House 1
at Komaktorvik 1 could indicate that
shot was casted/recasted and stored in
winter dwellings. Lead enrichments in
these dwellings might also relate to the
adoption of ceramic wares and dwelling windows. The use, repair, discard,
and deposition of lead-glazed ceramics
and/or lead window caming are plausible candidates for the observed lead
enrichments inside Houses 11 and 1. An
abundance of shot and ceramics were
discovered in test excavations of House1
and an adjacent midden.
Wilsonetal. (2008:418) connects Ba
enrichments in archaeological deposits to charcoal. The Ba enrichments
discovered in Houses 11 and 1 could
derive from the charcoal used to make
gunpowder. They could also represent
the influence of charred materials from
lamps. Again, experimental analyses of
the compositions of ceramic glazes, shot,
gunpowder, and other European materials would help determine the potential
sources of Pb and Ba enrichments in

eighteenth and nineteenth century Labrador Inuit dwellings.
Conclusion
This project is the first of its kind undertaken in Labrador. It is also one of just a
few studies that consider hunter-gatherer
influences on soil/sediment development in northern Canada. Inuit archaeological sites in northern Labrador have
cold soils with diminished chemical
and biological activity, and they typically
have high clay contents and slow leaching rates. They are also unaffected by
modern land use. These characteristics
contributed to the preservation of the
anthropogenic element inputs documented in this study. Soils were collected
from winter dwellings at Komaktorvik 1,
Nachvak Village, and Iglosiatik 1, specifically from floors, platforms, lamp areas,
tunnels, and wall berms. Background
samples were collected near each site
for comparative purposes. Concentrations of 46 elements in 34 samples were
identified using XRF and ICP-MS. Phosphorus, S, Ba, Pb, Cs, Hf, La, and Eu
enrichments were discovered in archaeological samples using enrichment factors.
These results, with the exception of P,
expanded the range of elements with
documented enrichments on northern
hunter-gatherer archaeological sites.
Phosphorus, S, and Cs have enrichments throughout dwellings from each
period that relate to lamp burning and
food preparation. Enrichments in tunnels
and wall berms relate to refuse disposal
practices and seasonal rebuilding. Lanthanum and Eu have enrichments primarily in the samples from the sleeping
platforms of fifteenth to late seventeenth
century dwellings, and they relate to the
use of woven baleen mats as bedding.
Hafnium has enrichments in early period
houses, perhaps representing the incorporation of debitage produced during

slate tool production. Lead enrichments
in eighteenth and nineteenth century
dwellings reflect the deposition of lead
shot and other lead based European
products. Archaeological soil/sediment
chemistry studies of Inuit dwellings with
well-defined internal features and activity
areas could provide a comparative dataset
useful for reconstructing the use of space
inside dwellings, such as pole-ridge tents,
that lack artifactual, faunal, and architectural evidence.
The dwellings included in this exploration represent different temporal contexts. The results indicate some degree
of symmetry in the practices performed
in these houses. Some differences in the
use of space over time are also apparent.
These variations indicate that cultural
soilscapes are potentially useful within
archaeological studies concerning the
processes of stability and change in how
people defined and used places. A larger
sample size, equally represented temporal periods, and ethnoarchaeological
and experimental research concerning
the by-products of particular activities would strengthen this argument.
Ethnoarchaeological and experimental
research will help resolve ambiguities in
element enrichment sources by developing a comparative reference collection
of chemical elements and compounds
derived from inorganic and organic
natural sources, common materials
used by northern hunter-gatherers, and
common activities practiced among
these people. Studies concerning the
pedogenic and taphonomic aspects
of anthropogenic elemental inputs in
northern deposits are also necessary.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada for graduate assistance

and the J.R. Smallwood Foundation, the
Northern Scientific Training Program, and
the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial
Archaeology Office for research funding.
Pam King and Lakmali Hewa from the
Memorial University of Newfoundland provided assistance with the XRF and ICP-MS
analyses. I would like to thank Dr. Peter
Whitridge and Dr. Cathy Mathias from the
Memorial University of Newfoundland and
Dr. Peter Dawson and Dr. Gerry Oetelaar
from the University of Calgary for their comments. I also thank Dr. Susan Kaplan for permission to adapt her map of Nachvak Village
and the three manuscript reviewers for their
insightful and helpful comments.
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Exploring Soilscapes and Places Inside Labrador

Inuit Winter Dwellings

Rsum. Les peuples inuits ont influenc de

ont t testes par chantillonnage stratifi

n the past, a northern huntergatherers way of life, both generally

Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary,

Canadian Journal of Archaeology/Journal Canadien dArchologie 35: 5585 (2011)

Abstract. Inuit people have interacted with

Archaeological expressions of these

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

disposal, argued that phosphorus

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 57

Moore and Denton (1988) recognized

Bay and the Strait of Belle Isle. Nachvak

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Seven Islands Bay; Komaktorvik

Strait of Belle Isle

Figure 1. Map of Labrador showing the locations of the sites.

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 59

the southeast coast of Baffin Island to

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Figure 3. Komaktorvik 1 site plan.

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 61

House 9 at Komaktorvik 1 is a clear

The site has 15 houses similar to the

Figure 4. Komaktorvik 1, House 9.

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Figure 5. Nachvak Village.

tions along the Strait of Belle Isle by the

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

Figure 6. Nachvak Village site plan.

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 63

Figure 7. Nachvak Village, House 4.

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Figure 9. Iglosiatik 1 site plan.

Figure 10. Iglosiatik 1, House 2.

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

Figure 11. Iglosiatik 1, House 12.

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 65

tunnel, and wall berm. House 12 has two

winter dwelling. It has a sub-rectangular

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Figure 12. Komaktorvik 1, House 11.

Figure 13. Komaktorvik 1, House 1.

organic matter and large sediments were

Applied Research Laboratories 8420+

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 67

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

One-way between groups analysis

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

as weight percents, while others were

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 69

The ANOVA results highlight some

Cs have significant F-values, but they

Journal Canadien dArchologie 35 (2011)

Sample Location and Element Enrichment Percent

Canadian Journal of Archaeology 35 (2011)

EXPLORING SOILSCAPES AND PLACES 71

variable highlights considerable differences. All of the F-values are significant