A public lecture by one of Canada’s foremost experts on Arctic archaeology, presented in conjunction with the Vere Gordon Childe Centre.
Inuit of Canada are justifiably famous for their complex domed snow houses which provided shelter during the long winters. However, archaeologists working in the Arctic are confronted with a major problem: snow houses melt each spring, leaving no physical evidence. In this talk, house architecture, artifacts, and regional patterns of site occupations are described for an important region of the central Canadian Arctic. When brought together, these lines of evidence can be used to make a strong case that the 2,000-year-old Middle Dorset culture, only distantly related to Inuit, also built and lived in snow houses.
Max Friesen is a professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, specializing in the archaeology of the North American Arctic. His four decades of fieldwork explore how the linkages between social organization, world view, economy, technology, and environment have shaped the lives of Inuit and their ancestors over the past 5,000 years. His research is performed in close collaboration with Inuit communities and organizations, and is intended to have a positive impact in the North as well as in academic contexts. He is the author of over 70 academic publications, most in major international journals, has authored or co-authored two books, and is senior editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Prehistoric Arctic.
Max Friesen is in Australia as a guest of the Vere Gordon Childe Centre.
